The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advised on Monday all Internet users to consider using other web browsers as an alternative to Internet Explorer (IE). The warning came about a day after Microsoft publicly announced a security advisory about the bug that was discovered in their browser. There is no report of the extent of damage the flaw has brought so far.
“US-CERT is aware of active exploitation of a use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer. This vulnerability affects IE versions 6 through 11 and could allow unauthorized remote code execution,” a statement reads at the official website of the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), a major part of DHS.
“US-CERT recommends that users and administrators review Microsoft Security Advisory 2963983 for mitigation actions and workarounds. Those who cannot follow Microsoft’s recommendations, such as Windows XP users, may consider employing an alternate browser,” the website added, referring to the likes of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
US-CERT also suggests companies and businesses to use EMET (Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit), a free security tool from Microsoft. Although some online security experts agree that it is useful when it comes to preventing potential cyber attacks, some business owners claim that it can also lead to system crashes because it is not compatible with some software programs.
As of posting, Microsoft has not provided a concrete solution, but said its programmers are now doing their best to fix the problem soon. For the meantime, the software giant company said on Sunday that the IE flaw could allow hackers to have full access to the personal data of millions of innocent web users, especially those who are still using the dying Windows XP.
Microsoft has officially ended its support for Windows XP starting April 8. This means that there will be no more updated versions for this operating software and users will no longer receive security updates. Tech research firm NetMarketShare recently revealed that around 55 percent of PC users worldwide use IE 6 to 11 and almost 28 percent still use the aging Windows XP Operating System.
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