Microsoft said on Sunday night that it is planning to make available this week a patch for a Windows flaw that has already been used in an attack.
Microsoft issued an advisory on the animated cursor flaw on Thursday and by Friday malicious code was circulating that took advantage of the hole.
In an email, Microsoft said it had originally planned to patch the flaw on 10 April as part of its regular monthly security update, but now it plans to release the patch on Tuesday because of the public exploit.
"Since testing has been completed earlier than anticipated, Microsoft has released the update ahead of schedule to help protect customers," a Microsoft representative said in an email.
The software maker said its analysis of the data suggests that "the attacks and customer impact is limited", but the company said that it encourages customers to download the patch when it is made available. Consumers that have Windows' automatic update feature turned on will get the patch automatically, and it will also be able to be downloaded manually.
Microsoft said it is also working with law enforcement to track down the attackers.
Talkback
Anyone still using MSIE is flirting with danger. This has been proven to be the most vulnerable, insecure, browser on planet earth. When combined with any version of windows it becomes a double threat.
Switch to Firefox, Opera, or Mozilla suite. Those sites that require you use IE are also contributing to the spread of worms, trojans, etc.