Homeland Security Issues Warning Over Serious Internet Explorer Bug
April 30th, 2014 by admin
Serious Security Flaw Found in IE
A security flaw or bug has been discovered in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), which affects all versions of IE from 6 to 11. This flaw allows a hacker to potentially gain access to your computer and hard drive when a bad link be clicked.
At this time, the U.S. Department of Homeland security, as well as their UK counterparts, have advised people not to use the Internet Explorer Web browser until a fix is found for this serious security flaw. When the DHS gets involved, we know it's serious!
Though the security flaw is targeted primarily at the defense and financial industries, it is important all people take the necessary precautions and not use IE until a solution is found.
"We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem," the Department of Homeland Security's United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) said in a post Monday morning.
It is recommended that users and administrators "consider employing an alternative Web browser until an official update is available."
Microsoft confirmed it is working to fix the code that allows Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11 to be exploited by the vulnerability. As of Monday morning, no fix has been posted.
Because Microsoft discontinued all support for Windowx XP on April 8th, all indications are that the flaw will NOT be fixed for the XP operating system.
Technical Info:
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/222929
Microsoft typically releases security patches on the first Tuesday of each month, what's known as Patch Tuesday. The next one is Tuesday, May 6. Whether the company will release a patch for this vulnerability on or before that date is not known at present.
Computer users who are running the Windows XP operating system should permanently discontinue use of the Internet Explorer browser, and replace the XP systems with a newer OS as soon as practical.
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security