Black Screen of Death most likely caused by malware

Section: Computers, Desktops, Laptops, Security, Software / Applications

Windows 7 Logo Last week, the internet was ablaze with stories about the new “Black Screen of Death”, Gadgetell included. Sources claimed that the Windows 7 security update caused this new BSOD and even though Microsoft denied those charges, the blame continued on. But now, the same company who made the original claim against Microsoft, Prevx, now is stating that the black screen is most likely caused by malware, not the security update. It seems those Mac vs. PC commercials have finally gotten to our heads.

Prevx’z CEO Mel Morris made a blog post, apologizing to Microsoft.

“The issue appears to be related to a characteristic of the Windows Registry related to the storage of string data. In parsing the Shell value in the registry, Windows requires a null terminated ‘REG_SZ’ string. However, if malware or indeed any other program modifies the shell entry to not include null terminating characters, the shell will no longer load properly, resulting in the infamous Black Screen with the PC showing only the My Computer folder.”

Microsoft’s Chief Security Adviser of Microsoft EMEA Roger Halbheer retaliated to this post on his own blog.

Looking at that, you should now make your risk assessment and decide which source you want to trust. For me, the ultimate source for information you should build your assessment on is neither Twitter nor your brother’s sister in law’s father’s brother (unless he works for Microsoft’s security) but our website.

I can understand how people would believe that this would be Microsoft’s error. With all the problems that Vista had, and all the Mac vs. PC attack ads, its understandable that we have lost some trust in Microsoft. But that doesn’t mean we can believe every rumor that comes out about them. Microsoft has given reason to begin to trust them again, in Windows 7. Listen to both sides of the story in every argument.

Read [Mashable]

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