Microsoft has warned consumers that a vulnerability in its Internet Explorer browser could let hackers gain access and user rights to their computer.<\/p>\n
The flaw affects Internet Explorer (IE) versions 6 to 11 and Microsoft said it was aware of “limited, targeted attacks” to exploit it.<\/p>\n
According to NetMarket Share, the IE versions account for more than 50% of global browser market.<\/p>\n
Microsoft says it is investigating the flaw and will take “appropriate” steps.<\/p>\n
The firm, which issued a security advisory over the weekend, said the steps “may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs”.<\/p>\n
XP impact<\/strong><\/p>\n However, the issue may be of special concern to people still using the Windows XP operating system.<\/p>\n That is because Microsoft ended official support for that system earlier this month.<\/p>\n It means there will be no more official security updates and bug fixes for XP from the firm.<\/p>\n Cyber security firm Symantec said it had carried out tests which confirmed that “the vulnerability crashes Internet Explorer on Windows XP”.<\/p>\n “This will be the first zero day vulnerability that will not be patched for Windows XP users,” it added.<\/p>\n About 30% of all desktops are thought to be still running Windows XP and analysts have previously warned that those users would be vulnerable to attacks from cyber-thieves.<\/p>\n Microsoft has suggested businesses and consumers still using the system should upgrade to a newer alternative.<\/p>\n ‘Complete control’<\/strong><\/p>\n Microsoft said that hackers looking to exploit the flaw could host a “specially crafted website” containing content that can help them do so.<\/p>\n However, they would still need to convince users to view the website for them to be able to gain access to their computer.<\/p>\n They could do this by getting them to click on a link sent via an email or instant messenger, or by opening an attachment sent through an email.<\/p>\n However, a hacker would have “no way to force users” to view the content.<\/p>\n If successful, a hacker could gain the same rights as the computer’s current user.<\/p>\n “If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system,” the firm warned.<\/p>\n “An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.”<\/p>\n But the firm added that Internet Explorer on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2 runs in a restricted mode, which “mitigates this vulnerability”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Credit: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Microsoft has warned consumers that a vulnerability in its Internet Explorer browser could let hackers gain access and user rights to their computer. The flaw affects Internet Explorer (IE) versions 6 to 11 and Microsoft said it was aware of “limited, targeted attacks” to exploit it. According to NetMarket Share, the IE versions account for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":15346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[18,38],"class_list":["post-15345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dr-akwasi-osei","tag-palaver-newspaper"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}