The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released a statement telling Internet Explorer users that they may want to consider using another internet browser for a couple of days as Microsoft works to fix a security flaw reported over the weekend.
The security flaw allows hackers to launch attacks, according to Reuters.
The United States Computer Emergence Readiness Team released an advisory earlier this morning (April 28) the vulnerability in versions 6 to 11 of Internet Explorer "could lead to the complete compromise of an affected system."
The affected versions of Internet Explorer represents 55 percent of the PC browser market, according to Forbes.
An issue was reported over the weekend, though Microsoft is not sure how long it will take before users can safely access Internet Explorer.
The vulnerability was discovered by cyber security software maker FireEye Inc, which said the flaw is a "zero-day" threat. This means the first attacks took place before Microsoft was made aware of it.
A "sophisticated" hacker group has already been exploiting the flaw in a campaign titled "Operation Clandestine Fox," which targets US financial institutions and military, according to Forbes.
"It's unclear what the motives of this attack group are at this point. It appears to be broad-spectrum intel gathering," said FireEye spokesman Vitor De Souza, according to Reuters.
FireEye said that while Microsoft works to fix the issue, users can either use another browser other than IE, or disable Adobe Flash.
By disabling Adobe Flash within IE, the exploit won't be able to function, according to FireEye.
No fix will be rolled out for Windows XP because support has officially ended.
"An unsupported version of Windows will no longer receive software updates from Windows Update," said Microsoft in a statement. "These include security updates that can help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, which can steal your personal information."
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