Estonia, Internet, Technology

International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 17:35

Estonia: RIA advises people to temporarily refrain from using Internet Explorer

BC, Tallinn, 22.01.2020.Print version
The Estonian Information System Authority (RIA) is advising people to temporarily refrain from using Internet Explorer until the arrival of new security patches, informed LETA/BNS.

Cyber criminals are taking advantage of a critical security vulnerability published in mid-December that allows malware to be sent to the computers of Internet Explorer users, RIA said. As there are currently no security patches for regular users, RIA recommends that people temporarily avoid using Internet Explorer until new ones are available.


Criminals can take advantage of the security vulnerability by adding some malicious code to some websites. When an Internet Explorer user visits this page, the malware is installed on the computer without the user's knowledge, which could spy on them or encrypt their files, for example. 


Microsoft has not yet fixed the security vulnerability and this will likely be done in mid-February -- it is customary for Microsoft to carry out updates on the second Tuesday of every month.


"We all probably know somebody who still uses Internet Explorer out of habit -- now would be a good time to warn them about this security vulnerability," Tonu Tammer, head of the RIA department responsible for the management of security incidents, said. "In the end, no browser is better than others, but for now, the threat has to be taken seriously," he added.


To avoid this risk, RIA recommends using other browsers. For example, in recent years, Microsoft has introduced with its operating systems a browser called Edge, which is not affected by this security vulnerability. However, Microsoft no longer offers security updates for Windows 7, and users of this version should definitely upgrade to Windows 10.


Internet Explorer is a web browser accompanying all Microsoft Windows operating systems and is the third most popular internet browser, used by more than 7% of all internet users worldwide. Google Chrome continues to be the most popular with 67%.






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