Tuesday Tech Tip, April 29, 2014 Print
Tuesday, 29 April 2014 09:15

 

Internet Explorer is unsafe to use.  We will apply the security patch as soon as it is available, but for now please use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to access the Internet.

 

If you have XP operating systems (WHICH YOU SHOULDN’T) they will most likely not be fixed because XP is an unsupported operating system.

My suggestion right now is to:

  1. Get to a computer that has Firefox or Chrome and download the Chrome or Firefox install
  2. Copy the install files onto a thumb drive and go to each computer and install it. (Time is of the essence.)
  3. Make sure that one of those safe browsers are set as the default browser so that the computer doesn’t auto-launch IE.

If your company is one of our clients and employees are reporting unusually sluggish performance already with their computers, please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it "> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

We will do our best to get to each of you and make sure that your company is safe. We will most definitely push out the security patch as soon as it is invented.  For now, be aware and be informed.  Take precautions and report any unusual activity. 

From PC World: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2148368/new-internet-explorer-zero-day-puts-web-at-risk-and-xp-isnt-getting-a-fix.html

Hackers have uncovered the first bug that could put Windows XP users at serious risk, after Microsoft ceased support for the aging operating system less than three weeks ago.

On Saturday, Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11 were at risk for so-called drive-by attacks from malicious websites. Windows XP is capable of running Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8.

This new remote code execution vulnerability, dubbed CVE-2014-1776, has the potential to give hackers the same user rights as the current user. That means a successful attacker who infects a PC running as administrator would have a wide variety of attack open to them such as installing more malware on the system, creating new user accounts, and changing or deleting data stored on the target PC. Most Windows users run their PCs under an administrator account.

These attacks aren't theoretical, either—security firm FireEye discovered these attacks being actively used in the wild. For these attacks to work, however, a user would have to visit a malicious website attempting to install the code. Microsoft says attacks could also come from "websites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements" where an attacker could insert malicious code.

Microsoft has yet to decide whether it will issue an emergency patch in the coming days or wait for patch Tuesday on May 13 to repair supported versions of IE.