Microsoft has issued a patch to fix a security flaw which is believed to have affected as many as 10,000 websites. The flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser could allow criminals to take controls of people’s computers and steal passwords. Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of people around the world and flaw could affect all its versions. However, so far the vulnerability has affected only machines running Internet Explorer 7.0
Security Update MS08-078 would protect customers from active attacks against the Internet Explorer, said the US software giant in the statement accompanying the release of the update.
“This update will be applied automatically to hundreds of millions of customers through automatic updates over the next few days” said Mike Reavey, director of the Microsoft Security Response Center ( MSRC ). According to Rick Ferguson, a senior security adviser at Security Firm Trend Micro, the flaw has so far been used to steal gaming passwords, but more sensitive data could be at risk until until the security update is installed.