Microsoft will be releasing a
patch later today to protect users from the
Internet Explorer security hole that has attacked millions of
users around the world.
Users in Asia have been most affected by the zero-day exploit
plaguing Internet Explorer, according to anti-virus firm,
Symantec.
A user's PC visiting a compromised site is then attacked
exploiting the
IE Exploit (961051) hole along with several other security
vulnerabilities.
Symantec warned that If the user's PC is successfully exploited,
the hacker drops various malicious code onto the exploited system
such as Downloader and Infostealer.Gamler.
For users who cannot afford to wait for the Microsoft patch,
security software company Prevx has developed a
small utility that users
can run to enable and disable Microsoft's suggested work-arounds.
The company said, "This utility will allow you to disable the
affected component of Internet Explorer until Microsoft release the
patch via their windows update software."
The
Microsoft Malware Protection Center blog reported that since
the vulnerability went live, roughly 0.2% of users worldwide may
have been exposed to websites containing exploits of the latest IE
vulnerability. It warned, "That percentage may seem low, however it
still means that a significant number of users have been affected.
The trend for now is going upwards: we saw an increase of over 50%
in the number of reports today compared to yesterday."