Microsoft Corp is rushing to fix a bug in its widely used Internet Explorer Web browser after a computer security firm disclosed the flaw over the weekend, saying hackers have already exploited it in attacks on some US companies.
However, PCs running Windows XP will not receive any updates fixing that bug when they are released, because Microsoft stopped supporting the 13-year-old operating system earlier this month. Security firms estimate that between 15 and 25 percent of the world’s PCs still run Windows XP.
Microsoft disclosed its plans to fix the bug on Saturday in a customer advisory on its security Web site. The bug is present in Internet Explorer versions 6 to 11. Those versions dominate desktop browsing, accounting for 55 percent of the PC browser market, according to tech research firm NetMarketShare.
Cybersecurity software maker FireEye Inc said that a group of suspected computer criminals have been exploiting the bug in a campaign dubbed “Operation Clandestine Fox.”
FireEye, whose Mandiant division helps companies respond to cyberattacks, declined to name specific victims or identify the group, saying that an investigation into the matter is still active.
“It’s a campaign of targeted attacks seemingly against US-based firms, currently tied to defense and financial sectors,” FireEye spokesman Vitor De Souza said through e-mail. “It’s unclear what the motives of this attack group are, at this point. It appears to be broad-spectrum intel gathering.”
He declined to elaborate, though he said one way to protect against them would be to switch to another browser.
Microsoft said in the advisory that the vulnerability could allow a hacker to take complete control of an affected system, to view, change, or delete data; install malicious programs or create accounts with full user rights.
FireEye and Microsoft have not provided much information about the security flaw or the approach that attackers could use to exploit it, cybersecurity firm Seculert chief technology officer Aviv Raff said.
However, other groups are now racing to learn more about it so they can launch similar attacks before Microsoft prepares a security update, Raff said.
“Microsoft should move fast,” he said. “This will snowball.”
Windows XP users will not benefit from that update since Microsoft has just halted support for that product.
The software maker said in a statement that it advises Windows XP users to upgrade to one of two most recently versions of its operating system, Windows 7 or 8.
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
RSS