Zero-Day IE Vulnerability Patched by MS

In a rare, out-of-band release, Microsoft released an update on Sept 21 that patched the much bally-hooed vulnerability that affected all versions of its browser as far back as IE 6. This security flaw was significant enough to warrant the German government recommend to its citizens that they use another browser until MS could address the exploit, which it did on the 19th in a “fixit” tool downloadable via their website, and now in an MS Update that will be delivered automatically to all validated Windows OS systems.

What this means for you:

Microsoft normally releases its updates on Tuesday, so the more savvy among you might have already noticed the unusual appearance of an update request from your Windows machine as early as last Friday evening. Regardless of when you see it, you should allow update to download and patch your OS as soon as possible, especially if you use IE as your internet browser. If your computer is managed by a corporate IT department, the update may go through internal testing before being released to update your computer. Assuming you’ve not made any changes to how your OS stays up to date, you should be patched, or will be patched the next time you reboot your computer. To make sure you’ve received this update, you can visit your Control Panel, open Windows Update and check your update history for “Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (2744842)”. If this has been successfully installed, you been patched!