DNS: Microsoft Highlights Internet Explorer Security Affecting 900 Million Users

A security flaw in Internet Explorer has left Internet users around the world vulnerable to hacker attacks, according to a Fox News report. A recent statement by Microsoft highlighted the issue.

While the software giant is preparing a long-term solution, the flaw is affecting all versions of the popular Web browser, putting 900 million people across the world risk at risk of hacking. The situation requires an interim patch update.

Microsoft (News - Alert) said in a security advisory announcement on Friday that scripting vulnerabilities have affected all versions of the Windows operating system. While millions of users are vulnerable, the company maintains that no attacks have been reported.

“The main impact of the vulnerability is unintended information disclosure,” said Angela Gunn, a Microsoft representative in the online technology site Tech Eye. “We're aware of published information and proof-of-concept code that attempts to exploit this vulnerability, but we haven't seen any indications of active exploitation.”

According to Microsoft’s statement, the vulnerability would enable an attacker to plant code to trigger malicious scripts to run. These scripts could collect private information such as e-mails and passwords, while also sending the user to fake sites without their knowledge.

All Microsoft and Internet Explorer users are advised to visit the Microsoft Security Response Center to follow the situation and download the fix.

In other Microsoft news, the software giant is taking steps to try and stop former executive Miszewski from joining Salesforce.com. Miszewski shared in a statement last week that he was joining "the cloud computing leader at what is an inflection point for cloud adoption in the global public sector.” Salesforce described his role at Microsoft as "a trusted strategic advisor to national, regional and local government leaders."

Microsoft has also filed a patent lawsuit aimed at TiVo (News - Alert). It seems Microsoft was to stop the company from importing television set-top boxes. According to Bloomberg, the complaint accuses TiVo of infringing on four Microsoft patents. The tech giant is asking that TiVo be barred from importing the digital-video recorders, which are primarily made in Mexico and sold in the U.S.

A recent Microsoft study revealed Hosted Exchange Server best practices. The report emphasized that although namespace planning plays an important role within the Client Access Hosted Exchange Server, the Hub Transport and Edge Transport roles also need to be considered. Microsoft has issued an official support statement for Exchange 2010 and SLD/Disjoint/Non-contiguous Namespaces.

Want to learn more about how federal regulations are shaping and re-defining communications and information technology? Then be sure to attend the Regulatory 2.0 Workshop, collocated with TMC’s (News - Alert) ITEXPO East, taking place Feb 2-4, 2011, in Miami. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski (News - Alert) has pursued the singular goal of ubiquitous broadband access to an open Internet. While some progress has been made, the most difficult decisions are ahead. What's the Commission to do? This program will examine the important issues facing the FCC (News - Alert) including net neutrality, inter-carrier compensation and universal service reform, new CALEA legislation, next generation 911, additional spectrum for wireless broadband and the evolving role of state regulation. To register, click here.