On the last patch Tuesday (Jan 8th 2008) Microsoft released a patch to solve Critical Bug in the Network stack of Windows XP and Vista that, given the right situation, could allow a remote attacker to take complete control of your system.

The good news is that if you are behind a NAT Router ( your wireless router in your home for example) you are safe from such an attach. However, lets's say you are in an Airport, a Hotel or any other Open Network the chances of an attacker taking control of your Windows Machine is highly elevated, Even if you run a firewall.

So the morel of this story is. When your machine says "Do you want to install this Critical update" your answer should always be... YES.

To check to see if you have the patch you can visit windowsupdate.com or you can read a detailed description of the update from 2008's First Security bulletin MS08-001.

Go... Do it now!