Germany Urges Ditching Internet Explorer

The German government is urging Internet Explorer users to switch browsers, after Microsoft admitted that IE security failures allowed the recent attacks on Google’s systems. Microsoft has protested, saying that the security hole can be shut by setting the browser’s security zone to “high,” though doing so will limit its functionality and block some web pages. Besides, “these were not attacks against consumers,” a spokesman argued. “There is no threat to the general user.”

But one anti-virus firm tells the BBC that instructions on how to exploit the flaw, which is found in IE 6, 7 and 8, are now online, “so it is quite possible that everyone is now going to have a go.” Microsoft is working to fix the bug, and may release a security update ahead of its typical once-a-month schedule. (More Microsoft stories.)