Using old IE browser? Change NOW to avoid cyber attack.

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Switch Browsers Now, If in wrong half of user population

Anyone using Internet Explorer, versions 6 to 11, to browse the web: Switch browsers NOW. That means about 55 percent of all users browsing the Internet on any day should find a safer browser, according to the US Department of Homeland Security. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/28/us-cybersecurity-microsoft-browser-idUSBREA3Q0PB20140428

Homeland Security’s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) says a sophisticated group of skilled cyber punks has targeted the most commonly used browser to launch attacks against defense and finance organizations in the United States. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/internet-explorer-bug-used-by-hackers-to-attack-u-s-firms-1.2624032

Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute reports that no solution to the weakness in the affected browsers has yet been developed. The institute plans to host a conference on this and related topics within a few weeks. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/community/writ2014/

“Operation Clandestine Fox,” the name of the cyber attack against affected IE browsers, has been under investigation by cyber security firms such as FireEye Inc through its Mandiant division. http://www.fireeye.com/blog/

HamiltonFinanceServices.com analysts observe that IE versions 6 through 11 run mostly on old XP systems, so those who moved on to Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 have no risk from Operation Clandestine Fox, and now perhaps would be a good time to abandon XP altogether, for the rest of us. What do you think?

 

 

 

5 Replies to “Using old IE browser? Change NOW to avoid cyber attack.”

  1. Some link to the MS advisory would be appropriate … here is the [url=http://it.slashdot.org/story/14/04/27/206232/microsoft-issues-advisory-for-internet-explorer-vulnerability]Slashdot article[/url] where I first heard about it. MS does indicate there are ways to mitigate it …

  2. Apparently many “Zoombies” still using XP frequently use the older IE versions, and there are several attacks focused especially on them. A few articles have kept the news junkies up to speed on this development, so a simple search through DuckDuckgo.com or a similar search engine should help find articles on the subject. But if all else fails, let me know if you cannot find anything, and I’ll do my own search on your behalf…if you really, really need that help.

  3. I don’t use XP , i use Firefox , Qupzilla (and Avant browser on Seven) and of course Opera 12 🙂

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