18 Dec 08 Internet Explorer 7 Security Exploit Discovered

There has been a new, and pretty serious exploit found with IE and Microsoft is recommending you patch your current version of IE7. 

[Here is where you can get an update to fix it]

From ISC Reports:

Microsoft said it is investigating reports that a new exploit is going around that takes advantage of an unpatched security hole in Internet Explorer 7.

The SANS Internet Storm Center, which tracks hacking trends, said today that while the exploit does not appear to be widely in use at the moment, that situation is likely to change soon, since instructions showing criminals how to take advantage of this flaw have been posted online.

SANS emphasizes that this vulnerability is not one that was fixed in the massive bundle of patches that Microsoft issued yesterday. It is not clear what steps users can take to protect themselves against this threat, other than to browse the Web with something other than IE, such as Mozilla Firefox or Opera. This appears to be the type of vulnerability that could be used to give attackers complete control over an affected system merely by convincing users to browse to a specially-crafted hacked or malicious Web site.

The safest thing you can do is not use IE, something I would recommend anyway. This should be good motivation to download firefox and start getting comfy with it. You'll never want to go back to IE again! It's faster, more secure, and has a pile of plugins that really make it awesome. Patch your IE, or start using firefox today!