Trojan PNG and JPG Threat Identified in Windows Software Flaws

EasyNews, a provider of Usenet newsgroups, said it has identified two JPEG images that take advantage of a previously identified flaw in the way Microsoft software handles graphics files. Windows users could have their computers infected merely by opening one of those Trojan horse images. . . . EasyNews, a provider of Usenet newsgroups, said it has identified two JPEG images that take advantage of a previously identified flaw in the way Microsoft software handles graphics files. Windows users could have their computers infected merely by opening one of those Trojan horse images.

The report of the widely expected exploit comes less than a week after sample code appeared that demonstrated how to take advantage of Microsoft's programming error. Some security researchers worry that the ubiquity of JPEG images provides an unprecedented opportunity to spread malicious code through file-trading networks, the Web or spamming.

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