"Hey, let's be careful out there" was what Sergeant Phil Esterhaus would say at the beginning of each episode of the old police drama series Hill Street Blues. You better take his advice if your use Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher. Hackers have found a new vulnerability in IE and are exploiting it as we speak. Security researchers warn that several thousand websites are taking advantage of a "zero-day" vulnerability spotted in Internet Explorer.
A flaw has been discovered in the way Internet Explorer handles XML (Extensible Markup Language). The virus appears to be focused on websites in China. The topic was discussed on a Chinese language website more than a week ago. By the time Microsoft released its advisory notice, malicious code had been posted on a number of websites, which attempt to download a password-stealing Trojan horse virus to visiting browsers.
The vulnerability affects IE versions going back to 5.01 (service pack 4). While Explorer 8 Beta 2 on all supported versions of Windows "are potentially vulnerable", the company said, "at this time, we are aware only of attacks that attempt to use this vulnerability against Windows Internet Explorer 7."
Chinese gamers appear to be the main target for the virus writers, but pornography sites are also reported to be among the 6,000 infected websites documented by Trend Micro and other security experts. Hackers have also started to create SQL injection attacks based around the vulnerability.
No patch is yet available for the vulnerability, but Microsoft has published details of workarounds in Security Advisory 961051 and the Microsoft Knowledge Base. Or you could try running an alternative browser such as Firefox or Google Chrome.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Plane Destined to the US Vanishes Near Caicos
According to the Inquitr the Coast Guard is searching for any sign of an Atlantis Airlines Britton-Norman Islander plane that disappeared mid-flight. The plane was on its way to New York. Eleven passengers were on-board as well as one pilot. The Britton-Norman Islander was flying from the Dominican Republic when it vanished from radar. The last communication received was an emergency signal sent just 35 minutes after its takeoff Monday afternoon, officials involved with the rescue efforts indicate.
The Atlantis Airlines plane was scheduled to make a stop in the Bahamas to refuel. Search teams are focusing on an area of the Atlantic Ocean near the West Caicos island. Atlantis Airlines is based in Senegal.
Picture above is of a Britton-Norman Islander
Thus far, no sign of the Britton-Norman Islander nor any wreckage has been spotted.
Stay tuned for updates as more information becomes available.
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