IE Patch Job

Microsoft will patch a hole in its widely used browser Internet Explorer amid fears that the weakness in the system allowed Chinese hackers access to human rights activist’s emails. “It usually issues patches every month but said the attention the problem had received made it move more quickly. It follows advice from the French and German governments telling people to use other browsers until the hole had been closed. Microsoft said the patch would be released at 1000 PST (1800 GMT). The MS08-078 patch, for all current versions of Windows will be available via the Microsoft Update site and will be fed out to those that have their machines set to update automatically. Malicious code exploiting the weakness is known to be circulating on the web, said security experts. If a web user were to visit a compromised site using a vulnerable browser, they could become infected with a ‘trojan horse’, allowing a hacker to take control of the computer and potentially steal sensitive information.”