Microsoft issues fix for IE hole; full update coming Friday
The company's so-called "Fix It" tool is released today to patch critical hole, while a cumulative Internet Explore update will be issued on Friday.
The Fix It tool "is an easy, one-click solution that will help protect your computer right away. It will not affect your ability to browse the Web, and it does not require a reboot of your computer," Yunsun Wee, Trustworthy Computer Director at Microsoft, said in a blog post. "This will not only reinforce the issue that the Fix It addressed, but cover other issues as well," including four other critical remote code execution issues.
The issue is so severe that the German government and security experts have been advising people to avoid using IE until the hole is patched.
The larger IE update, which has a severity rating of "critical," will be released Friday as close to 10 a.m. PT as possible.More information is available here.
Uncovered this past weekend, the security hole could compromise the PCs of IE users who visit a malicious Web site. The flaw is being actively exploited to deliver a back-door Trojan known as "Poison Ivy."