Germany Asking For Citizens Not Use Internet Explorer

The German government urged its citizens to temporarily stop using Internet Explorer from Microsoft Corp., on Tuesday (18/9). The warning came after the findings of the damage has not been repaired in the web browser. The software maker said the damage was caused computers vulnerable to hacking attacks.

A researcher claims to have found evidence that hackers exploit a flaw in the program tries to attack a defense contractor. Microsoft said an attacker could memafaatkan flaw in Internet Explorer that is used in hundreds of millions of computers, to infect PCs that visit malicious sites and take over the victim's computer.

Federal Government Information Security (BSI) Germany said they were aware of the targets of attacks and hackers internet explorer fishing visit a Web site that has been contaminated danger. "The fear is the rapid spread of the code," the German government said in a statement. BSI recommends all users of Internet Explorer to use an alternative browser until the manufacturer issued a security update.

Microsoft does not seem to answer the question that asks for comments on the steps of the German government even though the company is downplaying the impact damage in a written statement. "There are a very limited number of attacks," said Microsoft spokesman Yunsun Wee. "The majority of users of Internet Explorer are not affected," he said as quoted by Reuters.

The company said it plans to release the software to protect computers from attacks in the next few days. Users must install the code manually by visiting Microsoft's website and clicking on a link. Microsoft did not say how long to release a full update for Internet Explorer. Some security researchers say they expect an update in a week.

Weakness Internet Explorer was found Friday after security researchers from Luxembourg PC infected while analyzing a server that is used to launch cyber industrial espionage campaign against at least 48 chemical and defense companies. AlienVault network security companies say they have discovered three other servers that host malicious websites that exploit the weaknesses of Internet Explorer.

AlienVault Labs Manager Jaime Blasco said he found evidence to suggest they are targeting defense contractors. For example, he said, he found related viruses in a site that contains information the Indian defense sector. "It seems that these people were behind a big target," he said.

Internet Explorer is the browser most used two months ago, with 33% market share, according to StatCounter. He was close behind Chrome, 34%. The company advises users to wear safety devices free until the new software from Microsoft. Software Enhanced Mitigation Experience is Toolkit (EMET) to reduce attacks.

EMET must be downloaded, installed and configured manually to protect computers from ancama, such as written use within Microsoft. The company was also advised to adjust some settings in Windows security to deter potential attackers. However, the setting will affect the usefulness of the PC.
 Some security experts say it would be too impractical for rare-PC users apply Microsoft's recommended steps. They advise Windows users to temporarily switch from Internet Explorer to another browser, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera.