Microsoft, on Thursday released a security update for its Internet Explorer browser to fix a bug that allowed hackers to take over a computer. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser on Sunday detected the flaw. The flaw affected Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11. Microsoft though has stopped the support for Windows XP OS, but, it still has fixed the bug for it.
 
Microsoft in a Blog Post mentioned that “the update to fix the bug has been released and the system that has automatic updates turned on will get these updates without doing anything and the others need to click the ‘Check for Updates’ button on the Windows Update portion of Control Panel to get this going”, said Adrienne Hall, General Manager, Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft.
 
Cyber security firm Fire Eye, which took credit for identifying the flaw, said hackers were exploiting the bug in a campaign nicknamed ‘Operation Clandestine Fox’.
 
Blog Post from Adrienne Hall, General Manager, Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft
 
The security of our products is something we take incredibly seriously, so the news coverage of the last few days about a vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE) has been tough for our customers and for us. We take a huge amount of pride that, among widely used browsers, IE is the safest in the world due to its secure development and ability to protect customers, even in the face of cybercriminals who want to break it.
 
This means that when we saw the first reports about this vulnerability we said fix it, fix it fast, and fix it for all our customers.  So we did.  The update that does this goes live today at 10 a.m. PDT.
 
If you are like most people, you have automatic updates turned on, and you’ll get this new update without having to do anything. If you haven’t turned it on automatic updates yet, you should do so now. Click the “Check for Updates” button on the Windows Update portion of your Control Panel to get this going.