Older versions of Internet Explorer are now vulnerable to attacks

Microsoft warned that it would be ending the long-term support for older versions of its Internet Explorer browser. Only the latest compatible versions will be kept up to standard on various operating systems.

That roll-out has now begun with the latest update, which has seen a number of vulnerabilities left open on versions 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the Internet Explorer browser.

Last week Tuesday, the patches for Internet Explorer 11 and Edge went out, but most of the older versions of Internet Explorer did not receive the same update. If you’re still using Vista, then Internet Explorer 9 is okay for now, but that’s the oldest version that has any tweaks to it. 7 and 8 have plenty of unperformed fixes that have left users dangerously vulnerable to attacks.

Although Microsoft hasn’t been exact about which vulnerabilities and how many of them there are, it did fix as many as 13 different bugs in Internet Explorer 11 and Edge. It would make things too easy for malware makers if Microsoft gave away how many weaknesses were are still present on older versions of the browser.

It’s obvious that it won’t take much for cyber criminals to figure out what the patch has fixed and more importantly, what it has left unfixed in the older browsers. A quick look at the code before and after the update should give them all the information they need to begin cracking open older browsers and releasing malware that aims straight to attack those vulnerabilities.

This is why it is critical to patch your browsers and update to newer standards if you can. It’s also the reason Microsoft started from scratch with its Edge browser, as it would not share any code with Internet Explorer and therefore be immune to any bugs that were found there.

Of course, if you would rather use Chrome or Firefox, you’ll be free from all worries with Microsoft bugs. But then again they have their own vulnerabilities to worry about!

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