Microsoft admits IE vulnerability

Software giant Microsoft has said a vulnerability in its Internet Explorer browsing software allowed hackers to attack human rights organisations, prompting Google to abandon its Chinese operations.

“Internet Explorer was one of the vectors used in targeted and sophisticated attacks targeted against Google and other corporate networks,” Mike Reavey, the director of Microsoft’s Security Response Center, said in a blog post.

“Microsoft continues to work with Google, other industry partners and authorities to actively investigate this issue.”

Reavey said the company had not noticed “widespread customer impact”, but only targeted and limit attacks using IE 6. He advised that changing security settings to “high” would sufficiently protect users.