IE Users Urgently Advised To Switch Browsers Until Security Repair Is Made
Windows Explorer users are being urged by government security response teams to use Firefox or Chrome as the default browser until a new security fix from Microsoft is in place for the new flaw that has affected every Internet Explorer version.
Computer emergency response teams throughout the world – Sweden, United Kingdom and United States – have urged Windows users to not use the popular web browser until Microsoft addresses the vulnerability.
Over the weekend, Microsoft acknowledged there was a flaw being exploited in limited but targeted attacks. The company said the attacks uses a rigged Flash file that’s hosted on the compromised websites to snare in its victims. The attackers are using the flaw, which affects IE6 through E11, to attain the same user rights the original user has.
Microsoft has not announced how it would handle the fix – would the fix be available as a standalone patch or apart of the May 13 patch? It will also be the first patch update that doesn’t include Windows XP, which currently runs on about 29 percent of computers around the world.
The company has outlined the ways in which to alleviate the attacks – deploying the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit version 4.1 or activate the Enhanced Protected Mode, which is available only for IE 10 and IE11
The flaw was first reported by FireEye, a security vendor, who also noted the attacks need Flash to work and advised people to disable IE’s Flash plugin.
Since Microsoft is no longer supporting XP, the US CERT is advising people to use another browser. UK’s and Sweden’s CERTs have echoed their sentiments.
CERT-UK said users should implement the use of other browsers and make sure their antivirus software program is updated on a regular basis and current.
Security firm Sophos advised XP users to unregister the VGX.DLL file to alleviate the threat.
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