Hackers targeting newly discovered flaw in Internet Explorer

"Hackers are already at work exploiting a newly discovered flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that has left more than half of the world’s Web browsers vulnerable to attack, including those on many federal government computers.

Microsoft said it was aware of “limited target attacks” in a security advisory posted Saturday. The flaw affects Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11. However, hackers are mostly targeting versions 9 through 11, according to the security firm FireEye, which discovered the flaw.

The most vulnerable versions represent 26 percent of the total browser market, according to FireEye, which has termed the repeated assaults “Operation Clandestine Fox.” But that number jumps to about 56 percent when you include IE versions 6 through 8............

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/28/hackers-targeting-newly-discovered-flaw-in-microsoft-internet-explorer/?tid=hp_mm

"Homeland Security: Don't use IE due to bug"

"The U.S. Department of Homeland security is advising Americans not to use the Internet Explorer Web browser until a fix is found for a serious security flaw that came to light over the weekend.

The bug was announced on Saturday by FireEye Research Labs, an Internet security software company based in Milpitas, Calif.

"We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem," the Department of Homeland Security's United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team said in a post Monday morning.

It recommended that users and administrators "consider employing an alternative Web browser until an official update is available."..........

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/04/28/internet-explorer-bug-homeland-security-clandestine-fox/8409857/

Microsoft has a patch for the problem available. If you are on automatic update it should take care of itself over the next few days. You can manual download it also if you are concerned.

Z

The patch was in my update file this morning. Wasn't a major concern to me since I don't use Internet Explorer.