IE Security Vulnerability
The countdown to the end of Windows XP support expired a few weeks ago. If you hung on to XP despite all advice to the contrary, there’s a good reason to make changing a priority now. Microsoft released a security report on Saturday that explains there is a vulnerability in Internet Explorer, versions 6 through 11, that makes it possible for hackers to gain remote access to your computer if you visit the wrong website. FireEye, a security firm, states that it has found evidence already of a targeted attack using a Flash exploitation that allows a hacker to get to your computer’s memory. An IE security update is in the works, but there will not be one for XP, as its support has officially been discontinued.
64-bit Windows 7 and Windows 8 can be helped by enabling Enhanced Protection Mode, says Microsoft, if you’re using IE 11. It can also be affected by setting your security to High, disabling Active Scripting, and installing EMET (Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit) which is a free security tool.
You can find other workarounds from Microsoft, if you like, or just use a different browser for now, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.