And here it is:
Posted on 12/01/2004 2:32:40 PM PST by holymoly
Microsoft published a patch for Internet Explorer on Wednesday, aiming to close a month-old hole that has been used by viruses to spread and by an ad banner attack to compromise PCs.
The vulnerability, dubbed the Internet Explorer Elements flaw by Microsoft, had previously been called the iFrame vulnerability. The issue--which does not affect Microsoft's major Windows XP security update, Service Pack 2--could allow an attacker to take control of a victim's PC, if the user is logged on as an administrator. Most home users tend to log onto Windows as administrators.
A Microsoft representative said the software giant had released the update before its next scheduled patch day, Dec. 7, because it had already been used by malicious software to compromise Windows users' PCs.
"That's one of the things that we factor in--when the customers are affected or there are active attacks," said Stephen Toulouse, security program manager at Microsoft's security response center.
An attacker can use the vulnerability to gain control of a person's computer when the victim clicks on a simple Web link. The attacker would then have complete control of the system, and could install programs, view, modify or delete data and create new accounts.
The patch arrived more than a month after news of the vulnerability was first posted on public security mailing lists. The move garnered criticism from Microsoft, which has led a drive to convince security researchers to give software makers at least 30 days to fix issues before outing the problem in public forums.
The only thing I use IE6 for anymore is a certain application that lets me log onto our mainframe computers at work while I'm at home (Citrix). Other than that, it's Firefox all the way.
}:-)4
Okay, I'll bite. Does it cost something? I see "FREE DOWNLOAD" and I gotta wonder if that just means try-before-you-buy. (I remember Opera and Netscape.)
I can find nowhere on the site where it says it's free (or otherwise).
Netscape 7.2 is also free, and a hell of a lot better than IE.
Yeah, but it is owned by AOL.
are not mozzila, netscape and firfox all the same company?
Ping!
Mozilla is the open source version of Netscape. Netscape is owned by AOL. Not the same company, but the same source code goes into both products.
Not only is it free, it's faster and it blocks those annoying pop-up ads. It is a great browser.
No, it's free. After you download it, look through the extensions, which are small software applications that allow you to modify Firefox any way you want.
They also produce Thunderbird, which is the email program.
2.If I like Firefox,and I can't dump I.E. 5.5 from my computer,what would be the point of switching?
Article says the patch was released today yet a quick trip to Windows Update shows no such update. Whatup?
I am currently using FireFox 1.0 but I can't rely on it yet - it eventually locks up everyday and I have to re-open it. Then it just sits there and refuses to connect to any website. So, I go back to IE for a while then try FireFox again later and it seems to work for awhile again.
Weird.
I haven't seen a pop-up ad since I installed the original Google Toolbar. Nowadays, ZoneAlarm Pro does that and more for me (even those annoying banner ads are a relic of the past!).
Thanks. I'll certainly consider giving Firefox a try, maybe this weekend.
Then again, maybe I'll wait for version 2.0...
Thanks.
Link to the direct downloads for the IE fix. (There are several versions for the various editions of Windows.)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/results.aspx?sortCriteria=date&OSID=&productID=5A8BB164-5FC3-4BE5-95BB-BA73EEED1CA6&CategoryID=&freetext=&DisplayLang=en&DisplayEnglishAlso=
or
http://tinyurl.com/5hngp
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