Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a longstanding reputation for poor security, but it's now bad enough that you could be attacked jut by having it on your PC. Security researcher John Page has revealed an unpatched exploit in the web browser's handling of MHT files (IE's web archive format) that hackers can use to both spy on Windows users and steal their local data. As Windows opens MHT files using IE by default, you don't even have to run the browser for this to be a problem -- all you have to do is open an attachment sent through chat or email.
The vulnerability affects Windows 7, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
This wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for the disclosure of the flaw. Page posted details of the exploit after Microsoft reportedly declined to roll out an urgent security fix. It instead said a fix would be "considered" in a future release. While that does suggest a patch is on the way, it leaves millions of users potentially vulnerable unless they either turn off Internet Explorer or point to another app that can open MHT files.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a longstanding reputation for poor security, but it's now bad enough that you could be attacked jut by having it on your PC. Security researcher John Page has revealed an unpatched exploit in the web browser's handling of MHT files (IE's web archive format) that hackers can use to both spy on Windows users and steal their local data. As Windows opens MHT files using IE by default, you don't even have to run the browser for this to be a problem -- all you have to do is open an attachment sent through chat or email.
The vulnerability affects Windows 7, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
This wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for the disclosure of the flaw. Page posted details of the exploit after Microsoft reportedly declined to roll out an urgent security fix. It instead said a fix would be "considered" in a future release. While that does suggest a patch is on the way, it leaves millions of users potentially vulnerable unless they either turn off Internet Explorer or point to another app that can open MHT files.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a longstanding reputation for poor security, but it's now bad enough that you could be attacked jut by having it on your PC. Security researcher John Page has revealed an unpatched exploit in the web browser's handling of MHT files (IE's web archive format) that hackers can use to both spy on Windows users and steal their local data. As Windows opens MHT files using IE by default, you don't even have to run the browser for this to be a problem -- all you have to do is open an attachment sent through chat or email.
The vulnerability affects Windows 7, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
This wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for the disclosure of the flaw. Page posted details of the exploit after Microsoft reportedly declined to roll out an urgent security fix. It instead said a fix would be "considered" in a future release. While that does suggest a patch is on the way, it leaves millions of users potentially vulnerable unless they either turn off Internet Explorer or point to another app that can open MHT files.
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Social media platforms Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram, all of which belong to Facebook, are reportedly not working as of Sunday afternoon.
Whatsapp users from around the world are reporting that they cannot send or receive messages; Instagram users reported that they cannot upload to their stories or photos, and Facebook is having general glitches on the platform.
All systems work off of the Facebook servers which have experienced several crashes in the past couple of months.
In March, Facebook crashed for two days, affecting both WhatsApp and Instagram. Logging into the network was found to be impossible for all users. BBC called it "the most severe outage in its history," noting that the last time Facebook was disrupted on such a scale was in 2008.
During the March crash, Facebook had notified its users via Twitter that they were "working to resolve the issue as soon as possible." However, no such message was released as of yet during the most recent crash.
Ben Bresky contributed to this report.
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Thousands of people worldwide are experiencing problems with Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
A heat map by outage monitor Down Detector shows that the social media platforms are currently down in Europe, including Malta, the Western United States and parts of South-East Asia. Denied access to these social media sites, thousands of people have taken to Twitter to complain about the outage.
As of the time of writing, there has been no update from Facebook about what caused the outage and when the service will return.
And if it feels strange to realize that you can't scroll through your news feed or chat with your friends through the regular channels, just remember that this was actually the norm just over a decade ago.
Published: 12:16 BST, 14 April 2019 | Updated: 12:31 BST, 14 April 2019
Facebook and Instagram were unable to be reached across the world this afternoon as sites display a 'can't be reached' message.
There are also reports of Whatsapp, which is owned by Facebook, being down.
Downdetector.co.uk reported over 4700 complaints that Facebook was down in the UK with the outage beginning at about 10am this morning.
Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp seem to be suffering technical difficulties worldwide
The issue seems to have spread world wide with social media users from all across Europe, America and Asia taking to Twitter to voice their frustration.
Twitter users complained that they were not able to access Facebook or Instagram on their desktops causing a disruption to their day.
Joshua Swingle complained that Facebook should 'ensure platforms are always up and running'
'The end is near' tweeted Miyow
Another user joked how people were turning to Twitter as the last remaining social media
