Microsoft may have known about critical IE bug for months

Researchers uncovered latest bug in 2007; Microsoft mum on timing

The vulnerability that sent Microsoft scrambling yesterday and is being used by hackers now to attack Internet Explorer (IE) users may have been reported 18 months ago or more.

In the security advisory it issued yesterday, Microsoft credited a pair of researchers -- Ryan Smith and Alex Wheeler -- with reporting the bug. Smith and Wheeler once worked together at IBM's ISS X-Force, although Wheeler now is at Texas-based 3Com's TippingPoint DVLabs.

Wheeler confirmed that he and Smith uncovered the vulnerability, but he gave most of the credit to Smith. Wheeler declined, however, to say when the bug was reported to Microsoft. "I don't feel comfortable talking about that," he said, citing a non-disclosure agreement related to the vulnerability that he signed at the time. Instead, he steered questions to his former employer, ISS X-Force.

Wheeler suggested switching browsers. "Unless they're specially configured, other browsers will face substantially lower risk," said Wheeler. Browsers such as Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari don't rely on ActiveX technology to drive add-ons, as does IE.

Read the full Computerworld story by By Gregg Keizer