Software giant Microsoft has released an emergency patch for a number of vulnerabilities in its flagship browsing software, Internet Explorer.
“The Internet Explorer team accelerated testing of this update due to the growing attacks against the publicly disclosed vulnerability… and the update has reached the appropriate quality bar for distribution to customers,” said Microsoft Security Response group manager Jerry Bryant in a blog post.
“Releasing the update early provides Internet Explorer 6 and 7 customers protection against the active attacks and provides users of all versions of Internet Explorer protection against nine other vulnerabilities.”
Bryant said internet security firm Symantec had noted a recent rise in infections caused by the security hole, and that the typical process involved compromising a website, and then inserting code through the browser.
The last emergency patch released by the company was in January, following the news that a vulnerability had allowed the cyber attacks directed at Google and several other prominent software companies.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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