On one Tuesday out of every month, Microsoft releases a series of patches for all of its software products. Today, Tuesday July 10, Microsoft released quite a few of those updates, including one critically important update for Internet Explorer.
The update addresses a serious security vulnerability that allows remote code execution in Internet Explorer. In other words, hackers can insert a special piece of code on their websites that would allow them to gain complete access to the user’s computer. It’s expected that viruses could be transferred simply by visiting a malicious website using Internet Explorer 9.
The error is expected to affect Internet Explorer 9 users on Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008. Updates are also available for users of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and windows Server 2012 Consumer Preview.
As of yet, it’s unsure how many people (if any) were affected by the IE9 security flaw. However, now that Windows has released a well-published security update for this flaw, you can be sure that hackers have taken notice. They might currently be developing viruses targeted at those who have yet to update Windows with the latest free security patch. If you currently use IE9 and haven’t updated your computer today, then it’s important you do so as soon as possible.
While no specific viruses have been traced back to this Internet Explorer 9 security issue, there is certainly the potential for a virus to do some harm. By exploiting this flaw, a virus could virtually take over your entire computer – all from just visiting a malicious website once. If you have an administrator account on your computer, the flaw would give the virus free reign to perform all sorts of nefarious activities.
To fix your PC for free today, download the free update from Microsoft’s Windows Update (you can find Windows Update by searching for it in Windows 7, or by scanning your Start menu’s list of programs).
To protect your PC from future malware infections and to optimize its general performance, check out PC Cleaner Pro today.