Three of the current biggest malware threats are able to bypass Windows Vista security measures and infect PCs, despite claims that Vista would be a much safer operating system.

Security experts Sophos revealed that in tests, three of the top ten threats were able to infect PCs running the new Windows Vista, recently released to businesses and available to home users in January 2007.

Vista PCs were found to be vulnerable to these threats if users accessed their e-mail without the built-in Windows Live Mail (the successor to Outlook).

Those who check their e-mail using web e-mail clients or other software could allow malware to bypass Vista's security and infect their PCs.

Despite the improvements Microsoft have made with the safety of the new operating system, it will still be important to take steps to stay safe online, including using dedicated security and anti-virus software.

Sophos

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