Included with the other security patches in February's Patch Tuesday is an "important, non-security" update that will modify the much-derided AutoPlay feature in older versions of the Windows operating system; and hopefully put a stop to a broad swath of malware. Indeed, the majority of the top malware today abuses the AutoRun feature in order to spread, including the notorious Stuxnet. And while Windows 7 disables AutoRun when a USB storage device is inserted, recent reports have indicated that the majority of active Windows users are still on XP or Vista.

Of the decision to push this update to the general public, Adam Shotack wrote in a blog on the Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Security Response Center that "now is the right time to bring this update to a wide audience." Users who apply the update will still see an AutoRun menu when they plug in a USB flash drive, though they will no longer be presented with options for running programs off of the device. According to Microsoft, CDs and DVDs, as well as certain "high-end" USB flash drive will retain the old behavior. Finally, users who want to manually re-enable their Autorun functionality can check out the instructions here.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at Microsoft TechNet
- check out this article at Toms Hardware Guide
- check out this article at PC Magazine

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