Microsoft warns of Internet Explorer security gap

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft says a security gap in Internet Explorer could allow an attacker to take complete control of a computer if the user clicks on a malicious link.

The vulnerability affects versions 6 through 11 of the Web browser.

Microsoft Corp. said Saturday that it was aware of "limited, targeted attacks" that tried to exploit the security gap. The company is working on a fix which it plans to provide in a software update on May 13.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140428/us-microsoft-security-gap-843a2c1e30.html

---

Online:
Microsoft Security Advisory: http://bit.ly/1fJX5RR

[aggiesal]

1. People still use Interet Explorer? n/t

[gtar100]

24. The company I work for doesn't allow any other browser than IE because... eh-hemm... security risks.

Probably has more to do with how controllable they are over a domain. But I just shake my head every time I hear that reasoning.

[KamaAina]

33. Our IT guy has it set up so only he can update software

like Flash. So I have to use Exploder whenever I run across Flash, because I can't install the stupid plug-in for Firefox.

[JackRiddler]

43. "Ford Recalls Edsel"

Indeed, this is the most common reaction.

However, I estimate about 90% of AmericaOnline subscribers still use MS IE.

[DJ13]

2. I like how they waited until just after they ended XP support to announce this

[AtheistCrusader]

3. Yes, I'm sure the third party that discovered also sat on it until end of life for XP/IE8

[L0oniX]

21. Timing is everything ain't it.

[AtheistCrusader]

44. Bam. And Windows XP WILL be patched.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/msrc/archive/2014/05/01/out-of-band-release-to-address-microsoft-security-advisory-2963983.aspx

So much for your conspiracy theory.

[DeSwiss]

4. I'm sure all 11 or 12 IE users are terrified.

- They should call Bill or Melinda Gates. I'm sure they have an answer for them.

[amerikat]

5. I have to us IE on my work computer.

I have no choice in the matter. Hadn't used IE in years until this job came along. I even had
use it on my home computers until I got the work laptop. Trying to get everything moved to the work laptop
then I won't have to use it on my home computers. Hope they don't get hacked in the mean time.

[L0oniX]

22. Install XP in Virtualbox to run IE in almost any linux os ...may be the only safe way to run IE.

[amerikat]

46. I don't have admin rights on the work computer

So I can't install shit. Working on getting admin or power user rights. It's a slow
process. I know ways to get around this problem but It's against policy to do so. And I'm a new hire.
Never had a computer that I didn't have admin rights. Frustrating.

[tofuandbeer]

6. I didn't even know that browser still existed.

[bhikkhu]

7. Explorer's been a train wreck for so many years

It amazes me nowadays when I find someone that still uses it

[Angleae]

11. Sometimes you don't have a choice.

Boeing's maintenance manuals are delivered by web site that is IE only as such I have to use IE at work.

[doxydad]

13. The worst ...

is when you help older folks to keep their computers up to snuff, and they do not understand why you would like them to go use a different browser. That's OLD school, but once a certain daily pattern is established, good luck re-teaching those folks. Believe me, it's no fun.

[dotymed]

17. I know.

I got my first computer in the '90's. There wasn't a big selection of browsers then and IE came standard. I believe it was the cause of many of my computer "terminal crashes" over the years, but I had become used to it.
After my last breakdown a few months ago, I exclusively use Mozilla-Firefox. Guess what? No continual updates and my computer works better than ever. My neighbor just reformatted my latest computer instead of replacing another one...
I am not tech savvy but i can imagine how much space the constant IE updates were using.

[jwirr]

23. What browsers do you recommend that are easier to use?

[UpInArms]

35. I love opera

easy easy easy - been using it since 2000 -

www.opera.com

nimble light not a pig

easy to tab browse and safe (or as safe as I can make it)

[bhikkhu]

40. I've used Firefox for years

it works well, and works perfectly with Ubuntu - 10 years with that OS and not a single virus or malware issue.

My kids use Chrome, which is pretty good too, on our "upstairs" computer. That and Firefox are similar enough that I don't really notice a difference, though I think the settings and tool menus are easier to use in Firefox.

[progree]

8. This is NOT just another one of those endless security warnings -- US and UK govts say don't use IE

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/28/us-cybersecurity-microsoft-browser-idUSBREA3Q0PB20140428

U.S., UK advise avoiding Internet Explorer until bug fixed, 4/28/14,

... The U.S. and UK governments on Monday advised computer users to consider using alternatives to Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer browser until the company fixes a security flaw that hackers used to launch attacks....

[Victor_c3]

16. That's funny. I'm a federal employee and that's all they want us to use

I'm going to have to bother the IT people when I get to work about this one...

[alp227]

9. God's judgment on the homophobes "boycotting Mozilla" over the Eich affair.

Meanwhile, this headline could have easily been written back in the bad old days of malware, like in 2003, '04, '05, etc. Of course because MICROSOFT.

[geckosfeet]

10. Not that I have any real objection to this being in lbn,

but this has been in the news for days.

This is the kind of stuff we expect from IE anyway. It is a pos browser.

[doxydad]

12. 2 words: Mozilla Firefox n/t

[intaglio]

15. two more

Opera and Chrome

[efhmc]

26. I hear a lot of good things about Chrome.

Would you care to tell me what you think and why, please? Using firefox now.

[d_r]

27. I havent had a windows partition in a long time

but if I did I would use the Iron or Comodo dragon derivatives of chromium rather than chrome, just to get some of the google privacy issues out.

More info-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRWare_Iron

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comodo_Dragon_%28web_browser%29

[efhmc]

28. You are kind to take the time to send me this info. Thanks.

[starroute]

30. Chrome is faster than Firefox but a lot less customizable

I tried Chrome at my kids' urging, but quickly gave up. For one thing, it only allows you to have the tabs at the very top of the screen, above all the menus and the address bar -- which meant that I had to tilt my head back every time I wanted to switch tabs. For another, it doesn't let you adjust the font size separately for each webpage, which meant I was doing a lot of switching back and forth to be able to read each page in a comfortable way.

Firefox can be a bit clunky, but at least I can generally get it to do what I want and not what it wants, and that's what matters to me. (Though at the moment I'm holding off from upgrading to Firefox 29, because they've apparently redone the default theme in ways that break the custom theme I've been happily using for years. That's something I'm not happy about.)

[efhmc]

34. Thanks for the info. I think I will stay with Firefox for a while.

[starroute]

42. Then you might avoid Firefox 29

I've been reading comments this morning, and the general consensus is that they've made it more like Chrome in all the worst ways. For example, here's a Slashdot thread -- http://beta.slashdot.org/story/201357

So I'm not updating, and I may try out SeaMonkey, which is more of Firefox as it used to be -- http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

[intaglio]

14. This headline is not a repeat of other such headlines

from 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 et seq

[Renew Deal]

18. Are they going to patch IE6 and Win XP?

[olddad56]

19. I doubt it, they no longer support those versions.

[AtheistCrusader]

45. Yes.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/msrc/archive/2014/05/01/out-of-band-release-to-address-microsoft-security-advisory-2963983.aspx

[L0oniX]

20. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU FOOLS!

Run a linux flavor OS. Install Virtualbox. Then install WinsuxP and run IE inside it.

[UpInArms]

36. would that virtualbox

allow me to run adobe products?

hmmmmm

if so, might be able to change all my computers at the office - and that would make me very happy

[L0oniX]

41. It's free. I run it in Ubuntu. Installed Windows XP in it and run IE to monitor a security cam...

...system that require Active X tools. Can't hurt to try it.

[UpInArms]

47. thanks

I'm going to set up a "dummy" with that system to see if it will work with my needs

I appreciate the suggestion on which version to use

[penultimate]

48. Be sure to install the guest additions in virtualbox after your guest OS is installed

You'll get better performance and it will let you create shared folders so that you can easily get your files from the VM on the physical machine.

[UpInArms]

50. I'll add that to my list of stuff

to remember - will be setting it up sometime in June

[TheBlackAdder]

53. If it's certain GNU flavors... SUSE is NSA, Ubuntu runs on the MS Azure layer (w/Amazon feeds).

[chrisa]

25. The one person who still uses IE could not be reached for comment.

[hughee99]

29. I wonder how long it will take for my Netscape Navigator 4.0 to have this fixed?

Maybe I can look it up on Lycos or eXcite.

[Omaha Steve]

31. Excite has been MY homepage for 18 years

Last edited Wed Apr 30, 2014, 05:57 AM - Edit history (1)

What is your point? I used to own stock in Excite.

[hughee99]

37. I thought they got bought out years ago

by Ask Jeeves (now ask.com) and the page was redirected. Perhaps I should have used infoseek.com as an example. That gets directed to go.com (Disney).

[Omaha Steve]

38. No problemo

[progree]

32. Microsoft.com has nothing about this at the level a regular visitor to their website would see

I went to microsoft.com and clicked a few links, and found nothing at all about this security breach. There is something if one digs deep, but I expected something on the home page, or on a security or Internet Explorer page one click from the home page -- given that both the U.S. and U.K GOVERNMENTS suggest not using it. And given that this is getting a good deal of media attention.

Anyway, here is what I provided as feedback on one of their IE pages:

I was expecting something about the Internet Explorer security issue -- an issue so bad that even the U.S. and U.K. governments have suggested not to use it until the issue is resolved. I believe this is unprecedented. Shame on you for pretending nothing is wrong.

By the way, I use Chrome as my principal browser. But sometimes I have to see what one of my website's pages looks like from the perspective of an IE user. And it does save complex HTML files in a more useful format than Chrome, so in the rare occasions when I want to save a web page as a web page, I use IE.

There's a couple of other minor advantages of IE. But a lot of disadvantages which is why Chrome is my primary browser.

Yes, I'm aware of Microsoft's security advisory in the OP - http://bit.ly/1fJX5RR which morphs into https://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/security/2963983 . My point is that one wouldn't find this just by browsing around at microsoft.com unless one knew where to look or specifically searched for it.

[pscot]

39. What, me worry?

[RKP5637]

51. IE, people still use this obsolete browser? lol n/t

[longship]

52. Linux users warned of Microsoft security gaps for years.

Proprietary, commercial operating systems cannot respond to security as fast as open source. When they do, one cannot opt out of anything other than a whole update. We'll make you take the fix, plus these other things our partners want you to have. Plus, we'll make you take our leaky browser as well, and make you upgrade your hardware.

Hehehehehe!