January 17, 2010

Stop Using Internet Explorer.

Internet users have been warned off Internet Explorer by the German government to protect security.

The BBC reports the warning from Germany's Federal Office for Information Security, or BSI, comes after Microsoft admitted IE was the weak link in attacks on Google's systems.

Germans have been told to stop using all versions of IE.

Thomas Baumgaertner, a spokesman for Microsoft in Germany, told the BBC the attacks on Google were by "highly motivated people with a very specific agenda".

"These were not attacks against general users or consumers," Mr Baumgaertner said.

"There is no threat to the general user, consequently we do not support this warning."

Microsoft says the security hole can be shut by setting the browser's security zone to "high", although this limits functionality and blocks various websites.

German authorities say that even with this modification, IE would not be fully safe.

A spokesman for anti-virus firm Sophos told the BBC the warning released by BSI applies to versions 6, 7 and 8 of IE and that instructions on how to exploit the browser's weakness had been posted on the internet.

"This is a vulnerability that was announced in the last couple of days. Microsoft have no patch yet and the implication is that this is the same one that exploited on the attacks on Google earlier this week," he was quoted as saying.

"The way to exploit this flaw has now appeared on the internet, so it is quite possible that everyone is now going to have a go."

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