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New Internet Explorer Exploit Currently Being Used By Attackers

By January 12, 2019June 2nd, 2022Cybersecurity

Are you still using Internet Explorer?  Now you have a new reason to consider switching to a more up to date browser.

As most people know, Microsoft essentially gave up on Explorer after it failed to gain ground against its major competitors in the browser ecosystem.  They started fresh, with Microsoft Edge, designed as a modern replacement.

Unfortunately, there are still legions of faithful IE users hanging on, and they are at risk.  The company recently received a notification from Google’s Threat Analysis Group alerting them to the presence of the flaw, which centers around the way the software’s scripting engine handles objects in memory.

Worse, although the company did not provide any details, a separately published advisory on the topic made clear that this flaw has been seen in the wild and is actively being used by hackers.

The issue is so severe that Microsoft broke with its own policy and issued an emergency update to fix the flaw for IE holdout users.  If, for whatever reason, you have yet to switch to some other browser, this is one security update you won’t want to miss.  You’ll find it on the company’s website indexed as CVE-2018-8653. The company has also made clear that there are no known workarounds for this issue, except to install the latest patch.

Ultimately, of course, the best solution would be to seriously consider migrating away from the use of Internet Explorer. Microsoft will likely continue to issue emergency patches as other issues are discovered. Unfortunately though, they have formally ended support for the product, so there’s no guarantee.  Every day you continue using the outdated browser, you put yourself at unnecessary and entirely avoidable risk.

If you haven’t already got firm plans in place to migrate to some other browser, this is one more in a long list of compelling reasons to make it a priority.

Jason Manteiga

Jason J. Manteiga, Vice President of Olmec Systems, has been part of the company for over the past 20 years. He believes that having a great work environment and supportive team, is the ultimate key to success. Since being in the IT realm for over 25 years, Jason, along with Olmec Systems, has been on the Inc. 5000 “List of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies” and Channel Futures MSP 501 “Top Managed Service Providers in North America,” along with other awards and nominations. Jason earned his Bachelor Degree in Information Systems from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He also holds certifications in Microsoft MCSE, VMWare VCP, and Cisco CCNA. In his spare time, Jason is a contributor for The Center for Social & Legal Research (Privacy Exchange) and a member of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce. His hobbies include cycling and kayaking. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife, two daughters and son.