Widespread Attacks Exploit Newly-Patched IE Bug

The first widespread attack to leverage the Internet Explorer flaw that Microsoft patched in an emergency update Thursday morning has surfaced. By midday Thursday Symantec had spotted hundreds of Web sites that hosted the attack code. The attack installs a Trojan horse program that is able to bypass some security products and then give hackers access to the system, said Joshua Talbot, a security intelligence manager with Symantec. Once it has infected a PC, the Trojan sends a notification e-mail to the attackers, using a US-based, free e-mail service that Symantec declined to name."
Relatedly, reader N!NJA was among several to point out that Microsoft has apparently been aware of this flaw since September.

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/01...Patched-IE-Bug