Microsoft will release an emergency patch on Wednesday to fix a perilous software flaw allowing hackers to hijack Internet Explorer browsers and take over computers.<\/p>\n
The US software giant said Tuesday that in response to "the threat to customers" it immediately mobilized security engineering teams worldwide to deliver a software cure "in the unprecedented time of eight days."<\/p>\n
Researchers at software security firm Trend Micro say attacks based on the vulnerability in the world’s most popular Web browser are "spreading like wildfire" with millions of computers already compromised.<\/p>\n
Microsoft typically releases patches for its software on the second Tuesday of each month and rushing this fix to computer users out-of-cycle is testimony to the severe danger of the threat, according to Trend Micro.<\/p>\n
"When the patch is released people should run, not walk, to get it installed," said Trend Micro advanced threat researcher Paul Ferguson.<\/p>\n
"This vulnerability is being actively exploited by cyber-criminals and getting worse every day."<\/p>\n
Trend Micro has identified about 10,000 websites that have been infected with malicious software that can be surreptitiously slipped into visitors’ unprotected IE browsers to take advantage of the flaw.<\/p>\n
Hackers can take control of infected computers, steal data, redirect browsers to dubious websites, and use machines for devious activities such as attacks on other networks, according to security specialists.<\/p>\n
"What makes this so insidious it takes advantage of a big gaping hole of IE, which has the largest install base of any browser on the market," Ferguson said.<\/p>\n
IE is used on nearly three-quarters of the world’s computers, according to industry statistics from November.<\/p>\n