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A Zero Day Vulnerability At Internet Explorer ( Ie ) Was Discovered By Security Vendor Fireeye

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Zero-Day Exploit
On the 26th of April 2014 a zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE) was discovered by security vendor FireEye . The exploit targeted defense and financial services companies using IE9 through IE11 and was found on a “very popular U.S. website.” The malicious code was removed from the website as soon as the host was notified, however in Microsoft advisory #2963983 released the same day FireEye announced the exploit discovery, Microsoft provided limited guidance and did not state when it would release a fix. Historically patches have occurred either before or on the day regular security updates were released on a monthly cycle (typically the second Tuesday of each month).
Until a patch was released, user’s options …show more content…

Prior to the patch, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) advised companies to use an alternative browser until a fix was available, however for many companies that was not an option since business applications often depended on IE. The attackers discovered by FireEye took advantage of the fact that most people use PCs in administrator mode, which gave full access to the system. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Once breaking into the system of such a user, the hackers proceeded to move within the PC or network looking for ways to escalate the privileges and gain access to more data and/or systems.
Both the Microsoft advisory and security update stated the best practice would be that companies should only provide administrative access to people who have a need for it in doing their job.
Some experts recommend segmenting the corporate network to confine people to specific areas, which would also contain the mischief of hackers. "Any organization that has properly segmented their network will be at low risk to sensitive data being accessed as a result of a breach related to this attack," Brandon Hoffman, vice president of cybersecurity at RedSeal Networks has stated. Other experts say that employees often find ways around these restrictions, which would then provide means that cybercriminals could exploit. Ross Barrett, senior manager of Rapid7 stated, "You

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