Microsoft Scrambling to Close Stubborn Security Hole
Microsoft may soon be taking the unusual step of issuing an out-of-band security update to address multiple weaknesses that stem from a Windows security flaw that the software giant tried to fix earlier this month, Security Fix has learned.
Last week, on its regularly scheduled Patch Tuesday (second Tuesday of the month), Redmond issued software updates to plug nine security holes. Among those was a patch for a flaw in Windows and Internet Explorer that hackers were exploiting to break into PCs. However, it soon became clear that Microsoft had known about this vulnerability since at least April 2008.
On July 9, noted security researcher Halvar Flake published a blog post suggesting that the reason Microsoft took so long to fix the bug may be because the flaw was caused by a far more systemic problem in Windows.
