Yahoo! News reports:
Microsoft releasing emergency patch for perilous IE flaw
Microsoft will release an emergency patch on Wednesday to fix a perilous software flaw allowing hackers to hijack Internet Explorer browsers and take over computers.
The US software giant said on Tuesday that in response to “the threat to customers” it immediately mobilized security engineering teams worldwide to deliver a software cure “in the unprecedented time of eight days.”
According to researchers at software security firm Trend Micro, attacks based on the vulnerability in the world’s most popular Web browser are spreading “like wildfire” with millions of computers already compromised.
Microsoft typically releases patches for its software on the second Tuesday of each month and rushing this fix to computer users out-of-cycle is testimony to the severe danger of the threat, according to Trend Micro.
“When the patch is released people should run, not walk, to get it installed,” said Trend Micro advanced threat researcher Paul Ferguson.
[…]
Hackers can take control of infected computers, steal data, redirect browsers to dubious websites, and use machines for devious activities such as attacks on other networks, according to security specialists.
“What makes this so insidious is it takes advantage of a big gaping hole of IE, which has the largest install base of any browser on the market,” Ferguson said.
[…]
Ferguson said the flaw is being taken advantage of in “multiple versions” of IE not just the most current.
Trend Micro urges IE users to heed precautionary advice from Microsoft, or avoid using the browsers, until the patches are applied.
“There is a working flaw circulating in the criminal underground,” Ferguson said. “It opens the window of opportunity that much wider to take advantage and there has not been real protection against it.”
So there you are, IE users. I have helped warn you.
Here’s more of my help: Ditch IE in favor of Firefox. 🙂