Microsoft admitted last night that a serious flaw in security has left the majority of the world's Internet users exposed to attacks from hackers hoping to steal personal data and passwords.  As a result, they will release a "critical" patch later today.

The warning about the bug came last week, but has been exploited since the media reported about it, as "zero day" hackers seek to take advantage of the (window of opportunity?) flaw while it's there.

This has resulted in a flurry of activity at MS headquarters as they seek to devise a way to quell the threat.   Several engineering teams around the globe have been instructed to work 8 days a week until the fix is in.

According to one report I read;  MS said on Tuesday that in response to "the threat to customers" it immediately mobilized security engineering teams worldwide to deliver a software cure "in the unprecedented time of eight days." 

(Editor's note: Wasn't the world supposedly built in only seven?  What's that you say?  He rested on the 7th?)

In the meantime, they'll release an emergency patch today around 1:00 pm EST.   Every security expert is strongly recommending an immediate download.  Some background...a loophole in Internet Explorer (IE) allows criminals to commandeer victims' PCs by tricking them into visiting unsafe websites.   Once there,  they can be easily duped into giving up their personal information as they believe the situation is normal, but in reality it's all bleeped up.

Therefore, Microsoft has announced that they are releasing an emergency patch later today in the hope of fixing the security bug that allowed attackers to exploit the IE browser. The patch will be ready at 1 p.m. Eastern time via Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services and Microsoft Update.

The IE update will be labeled “critical,” which is the highest ranking update from Microsoft. This bug in IE has been all that people can talk about, some experts even warned that we should not use the browser until there is a fix. Microsoft as usual has been downplaying the threat.

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