Staying up-to-date on cyber security measures can be a
difficult task—hackers, scammers, and other cybercriminals find ways to exploit
popular software to commit both business and consumer Internet fraud on a
daily basis. Now, in the aftermath of the cyber attacks on Google and 20 other major American technology companies using
the Internet Explorer (IE) exploit “0-Day,” Microsoft is urging all consumers
to upgrade their operating systems and Web browsers in order to avoid being
targeted.
IE 0-Day is an issue that has been talked about across most
major cyber security blogs and communities since it was exploited to gain
access to the Gmail accounts of human rights activists in December. According
to Ars Technica, while IE 0-Day’s originating code is still present in IE 7-8 and
Windows 7, the exploit of the code will only successfully breach IE 6 being run
by users of Windows 2k and Window XP.
While IE 0-Day was used to target specific persons during
the Google attacks, the exploit has been publically released and may be used
for other cyber crimes, such as identity theft
and business fraud. Be sure to read more about IE 0-Day and assess the potential risk to yourself and your
business before upgrading.