As some of you may already be aware, there's a particularly insidious Windows exploit currently floating around on the internet that utilizes malicious image files to invade user machines via your browser loading an image. This exploit makes any linked images a potential security risk to systems. Because of how dangerous and easily spread this vulnerability is, we're taking the following steps to protect users.

First, all images will be temporarily disabled on the forums sometime this evening. Things are going to look a little less colorful around the house, but this is in everyone's best interest. We're going to work quickly display user images uploaded to GameSpot in the next day or two--hosting for banners and icons hosted by GameSpot will return, and hosting for signatures will be added. When you upload images to GameSpot, they go through a validity check to be sure they're free of unwanted code so we know they're safe.

Finally, we'll be adding a toggle to user preferences that lets you choose whether or not you wish to display remote images. If you choose to display remote images, keep in mind that this could potentially expose your system to risk. Microsoft's patch for this particular vulnerability is currently scheduled for January 10th.

For more information on the issue, visit Microsoft's security advisory. Thanks in advance for your patience while we work on getting the above steps done so we can return images and image hosting to the community as quickly and as safely as possible.

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