New exploit for IE 7, 8 & 9 on Windows XP, Vista, and 7

There is a new exploit for Internet Explorer 7, 8, and 9 browsers running Windows XP, Vista and 7. Computers can be compromised simply by visiting a malicious website, which gives the attacker the same privileges as the current user logged in. Since Microsoft has not released a patch for this vulnerability yet, Internet Explorer users are strongly advised to switch to other browsers, such as Chrome or Firefox, until a security update becomes available.

Microsoft has issue a security advisory about the situation: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/advisory/2757760

UPDATE:

• Sep 19th, 2012 – Microsoft released a “fix-it” solution. It has been verified working. More information can be found here.
• Sep 20th, 2012 – Microsoft updates the “fix-it” advisory to revision 2.0.  Requirements clarified: 1) “For computers that are running 64-bit operating systems, the following Fix it solution only applies to 32-bit versions of Internet Explorer.” 2) Before you apply this Fix it solution, you must ensure that Internet Explorer is fully updated by using the Windows Update service.
• Sep 21st, 2012 – Microsoft releases Security Bulletin MS12-063 and Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (KB2744842). Users and Administrators should install the update as soon as possible.

Windows 7 Problem Steps Recorder

I found an interesting tool built-in to Windows 7 that I wanted to share with you all. The Problem Steps Recorder in Windows 7 is a feature that enables users to record their interactions with an application and provide a detailed screen-by-screen view with accompanying information. You can use Problem Steps Recorder to automatically capture the steps you take on a computer, including a text description of where you clicked and a picture of the screen during each click (called a screen shot). When you record steps on your computer, anything you type will not be recorded. If what you type is an important part of recreating the problem you’re trying to solve, use the comment feature described below to highlight where the problem is occurring. It can be used by clients trying to describe an issue or by administrators trying to show users how to complete easy tasks. Once you capture these steps, you can save them to a file that can be sent to an individual for viewing.

Here is how you use it:

There are several ways that you can invoke the application. 1. Click Start and type ‘psr’ in the search box of Windows 7 start menu and press Enter. 2. In Run, type ‘psr’ and press Enter. 3. Or in a command prompt, type ‘psr’ and press Enter. After you have invoked the application, simply click ‘Start Record’ and perform the necessary procedures. The Problem Steps Recorder will not record any text that you have typed.If you want to add some sort of explanation, just click the “Add Comment” button while recording. Once you have finished, select ‘Stop Record’. A save dialog will open, prompting you to select where you would like to save your new instructions. The instructions are saved as a ZIP file. Once you extract the ZIP file, you will have an MHTML web archive file that can be viewed in a web browser such as Internet Explorer.