Don’t use other browsers, says Microsoft

The Redmond giant is responding to a wave of reports that suggest the exploit is worse than first thought, affecting not only IE7 but also all earlier versions.

“Microsoft teams worldwide have been working around the clock to develop a security update to help protect our customers and has [sic] just released the Advanced Notification Service advising customers that Microsoft will be providing a Security Update at roughly 5am, December 18th, to protect them from the vulnerability discussed in Microsoft Security Advisory 961501,” a Microsoft Australia spokesperson said.

“To date, the impact on Microsoft’s Australian customers has been minimal and Microsoft is not advising Internet Explorer users to switch browsers.”

The spokesperson advised users to activate the Automatic Update setting in Windows ‘to ensure that they receive the update as soon as it is available’.

They also recommended ‘enabling your firewall, ensuring your antivirus and antispyware is up to date, setting [your] Internet Explorer security settings to High and using Internet Explorer 7 in Protected Mode’.

Microsoft also said it will host a webcast to address customer questions on this bulletin on 18 December, at 8:00AM AEDT (NSW, VIC, ACT).