The IE hacking alert: How much of a threat to us, for how long?

[UTUSN]

I was spooked and tried posting this by pecking on the Kindle screen, which is a pain, then gave up and am taking a chance here. Isn't the hack targeted at gigantic institutions, not insignificant me? Depending on DU answers, and if I'm sidelined to pecking on "Silk"/Safari or whatever it is, I'll be CUT OFF here!1

I'm totally low tech, have never done anything but IE, so any references to "Foxfire" or "Mozilla" or "Opera" are Greek to me and won't change anything about me, so...

[hobbit709]

1. don't use Internet ExploDer is the simplest solution.

All you have to do is go to Mozilla's website, download Firefox, install it and use it just like you use IE.

[gvstn]

3. +1

This really is the simplest thing to do. Download FireFox and run the installer, if asked if you want to make FF your default browser say, Yes. If asked if you want to import your bookmarks/favorites from IE say, Yes. Then when you want to get on the net, use the FF shortcut on the desktop, your normal bookmarks should appear in FF.

Run FF for the next month until the IE fix comes out. Once you have IE patched then you can go ahead and make it your default browser if you choose to begin using it again.

There is no harm in having both browsers installed. Whichever one is set to default is the one that will open when you click on a Hyperlink, the other browser will just sit there unused and not a problem.

[Jim Lane]

6. Is MSIE still a security issue?

Even before this latest incident, I usually used Firefox. Lately, though, Firefox has been running very slowly. Furthermore, there's a website that I've always use MSIE on because MSIE works much better there than Firefox does.

So, I'd like to use MSIE, at least for this limited purpose. To be safe, though, do I need to continue to abstain?

[hobbit709]

7. The security hole is there from IE6 to IE11

[Jim Lane]

8. Thanks. I saw that I had an update from MS but I wasn't clear whether that would cure the problem.

I suppose at some point the Microserfs will figure out a patch. They seem to be taking their sweet time about it, though.

[hobbit709]

9. All their patches only nibble around the edges of the security hole.

They made IE an integral part of the OS so there's a wide open door into the heart of the system. That hasn't changed in every version of Windows all the way up to 8.1

[Make7]

2. Well, the latest threat gets in through Adobe Flash for IE, so you could just disable or update it.

You can also turn on Enhanced Protected Mode in Internet Explorer 10 or 11.

Microsoft also recommends installing their free Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit, which prevents the common routes that exploits use to take control of your system.

If you do at least two of the above and don't click on/visit weird/questionable links, you probably don't have to worry too much. Although it is good practice to keep anything important backed up frequently in case something does happen and you have to do a clean install of Windows.

All that being said, the easiest course of action is probably to just use any major browser other than Internet Explorer.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

4. Adobe patched the latest ZeroDay yesterday...

http://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb14-13.html

Summary

Adobe has released security updates for Adobe Flash Player 13.0.0.182 and earlier versions for Windows, Adobe Flash Player 13.0.0.201 and earlier versions for Macintosh and Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.350 and earlier versions for Linux. These updates address vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

Adobe is aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2014-0515 exists in the wild, and is being used to target Flash Player users on the Windows platform. Adobe recommends users update their product installations to the latest versions:

More @ link above

Direct d/l links for FFox & Ex-PLODE-r:

DIRECT download links:

Flash Firefox etc (Direct) http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/current/support/install_flash_player.exe
Flash IE ActiveX (Direct) http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/current/support/install_flash_player_ax.exe

HTH

[Make7]

5. Good to know.

Although I don't use IE, so I'm not really too concerned. I just looked at my Adobe Flash ActiveX version and it's 11.3. Perhaps I should update on the off chance I accidentally use IE for something.

[steve2470]

10. UTUSN I will be happy to walk you through this

1- http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/

You go to that link above and click the big green button to download Mozilla Firefox.

2- Download it to your computer (preferably desktop where you can find it easy)

3- Ask us questions

[UTUSN]

11. Thank YOU and all the recent posters, but a couple or three days after the initial alert

I think I saw news items saying the thing had been fixed. Besides that, some other DUers in other forums suggested just not clicking on not-known sources/sites and that DU wasn't a targeted site.

The bottom line is that I'm at such a low level of techiness that if things aren't getting catastrophic at MY level, I just move on.

I've been using my machine and the web in my normal/customary way and nothing noticeable has happened, so I haven't given it a thought ever since the 2nd or 3rd day of the o.p.

Thanks so much, very much. It's like a friend said when I pointed out a light was on on her dashboard: "I just ignore it until the bulb burns out."

[steve2470]

12. need any help ? please ask away nt