And, by every version of Internet Explorer, Microsoft means every version all the way back to version 6, which shipped in 2001…

And, by every version of Internet Explorer, Microsoft means every version all the way back to version 6, which shipped in 2001. Quite naturally, Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6 users are completely on their own — Redmond won”t be offering a fix.

News.com, among a host of others, are reporting a zero day exploit that affects every version of Internet Explorer from 2001 through today.

While the issue being actively exploited — yes, boys and girls, this is happening right now — is endemic to Internet Explorer, hackers are leveraging Adobe Flash best online casino Player plugin. Quite naturally, users can be reduce/eliminate their exposure by turning off or removing Flash.

“The attack will not work without Adobe Flash,” said FireEye, the security firm that discovered the issue. “Disabling the Flash plugin within IE will prevent the exploit from functioning.”

Internet Explorer: Abandon All Hope

However, the United States Department of Homeland Security”s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team is less sanguine about the issue and any potential short term solutions.

“We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem,” said the Department of Homeland Security”s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team.

Long-time Tapscape friend and reader Captain Obvious suggests worried Internet Explorer users switch to a different browser, like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Nevertheless, anyone still using Windows XP and/or Internet Explorer 6 absolutely should upgrade to Windows 7 or newer — get that done right now.

Whereas Microsoft has said it is working feverishly to create and release security patches for newer versions of Internet Explorer and Windows, Windows XP and Internet Explorer users are out in the cold — no updates or patches are coming, period. Microsoft recommends those users upgrade to Window 7 or newer…

What”s your take?