Warning on computer patches issued

Some computer users may be receiving many e-mails claiming to be from Microsoft Corp. urging them to apply a free security patch. Campus Information Systems Security said the e-mail is a fake and users should not apply any computer or security patches sent via e-mail.

Microsoft Corp. does not distribute any patches via e-mail.

Security researchers detected hackers distributing software to break into computers using flaws announced recently in some versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.

The hackers send victims e-mail claiming to be from Microsoft and instructing the recipient to immediately apply a free repair patch from Microsoft. Instead, a malicious program is installed on your computer.

Researchers from iDefense, Inc. of Reston, Va., who found the new attack software being distributed from a Chinese Web site, said it was already being used to break into vulnerable computers and implant eavesdropping programs.