New Security Flaw Found In IE, Best Fire Up FireFox

If you’re using Internet Explorer to read this it might be an idea to shut it down now and open up trusty old FireFox instead. Microsoft has today issued an alert to notify users of a critical security flaw in IE.7.0 that could allow hackers to take control of your computer and steal passwords. The company is apparently preparing an emergency patch to fix it but in the meantime simply requests that users remain ‘vigilant’ against the threat.Microsoft advisors actually ask that you don’t switch because they are trying to get it resolved as soon as possible.

Of course it couldn’t be seen to recommend else’s software, but this doesn’t show much consideration for people’s security concerns. Trend Micro security advisor Rick Ferguson is free from such restraint: “In this case, hackers found the hole before Microsoft did, this is never a good thing. What we’ve seen from the exploit so far is it stealing game passwords, but it’s inevitable that it will be adapted by criminals; it’s just a question of modifying the payload the trojan installs. If users can find an alternative browser, then that’s good mitigation against the threat.” Alternative browsers FireFox, Opera, Chrome and Safari are not vulnerable to the flaw, so if you know what’s good for you best jump on one of these to be safe (most are better than IE anyway). - Paul Lester [BBC] security Internet Explorer Microsoft