This Windows 10 bug corrupts hard drive just by looking at icon

New Delhi

Hackers can hide a specially crafted line inside a ZIP file, folder, or even a simple Windows shortcut.

"All a Windows 10 user needs to do is extract the ZIP file or simply look at a folder that contains a malicious shortcut and it will automatically trigger hard drive corruption," reports The Verge.

Microsoft said they are aware of this issue and will provide an update in a future release.

"The use of this technique relies on social engineering and as always we encourage our customers to practice good computing habits online, including exercising caution when opening unknown files, or accepting file transfers," a company spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Security researcher Jonas L first warned about the bug earlier this week, describing it as a "nasty vulnerability."

Will Dormann, a vulnerability analyst at the CERT Coordination Centre (CERT/CC) confirmed the bug.

According to Dormann, the bug has existed in Windows 10 for nearly three years.

Bleeping Computer tested the bug, and found that it will prompt Windows 10 users to reboot a PC to repair the corrupted disk records.