Next week, Microsoft is set to patch a collection of security loopholes that have served as a major vulnerability within Internet Explorer. A few months ago, security firm FireEye, discovered that they could exploit machines by using a piece of code that was drilled up by hackers. A second security confirm, Websense, later confirmed the issue and now a patch is ready to be sent out this Tuesday.
Microsoft released a small “Fix-It” tool to fix the issue for those who were aware of the exploit, but the mass update will finally be rolling out to everyone aware or unaware of the issue at hand. At the time of the tools released, Microsoft marked the exploit as “Critical” – this is the company’s top classification for security exploits.
In addition to the Internet Explorer patch that Microsoft will be rolling out, another security update will be released to fix an issue tied to x86 based Windows 8 machines (that means, Windows RT is not included). The apparent exploit allowed hackers to execute remote code on compromised machines.
Security expert, Wolfgang Kande, stated the following regarding Microsoft’s collection of updates that will land this Tuesday and the now dying Windows XP operating system that serves as another reminder to move on:
"Windows XP is affected by all five updates, and there is really no reason to expect this picture to change; Windows XP will continue to be impacted by the majority of vulnerabilities found in the Windows ecosystem, but you will not be able to address the issues anymore, Windows XP is getting its penultimate update and is now very close (just over 30 days) to its declared end of life date."
Lastly, Silverlight will also receive an update to fix an issue that allowed security features to be bypassed by streaming content on both Windows and Max OS X machines.
Sit tight for March 11, as the security updates will be headed your way. Have you heard about the update previously – did you patch the issue with the “Fix-It” tool?
