MICROSOFT TEAM TOILS TO SOLVE BROWSER FLAW.Byline: George Tibbits George Tibbits was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. He was born in Warwick, Rhode Island on January 14, 1763. He pursued classical studies and engaged in business in Lansingburg, New York in 1784. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Microsoft Corp. programmers were working around the clock to fix a flaw in its Internet Explorer Microsoft's Web browser, which comes with Windows starting with Windows 98. Commonly called "IE," versions for Mac and Unix are also available. Internet Explorer is the most widely used Web browser on the market. It has also been the browser engine in AOL's Internet access software. browser that could allow a Web site operator to secretly run programs or ruin files in someone else's computer. The company said Tuesday the repair, which Internet Explorer users could download from its World Wide Web site, should be available today. ``Microsoft is doing everything they can,'' said spokeswoman Dawn Leonetti. ``They don't want to put out a bug fix A revised program file or patch that corrects a software bug. See bug, patch and hot fix. (programming) bug fix - A change to a program or system intended to permanently cure a bug. that's buggy Refers to software that contains many flaws. Many in the software industry swear that bugs are inevitable, and perhaps they are right. As long as we work in the competitive, pressure-cooker environment of our high-tech world, products will more often than not be developed too hastily and .'' Microsoft said it had no reports from customers of security breaches. But company officials consider the flaw a serious problem because it potentially could allow an electronic attacker to bypass the browser's security system and severely damage software stored on a computer's hard drive. Microsoft, which disclosed the problem Monday after it was discovered late last week by a university student, immediately assigned a team of programmers to come up with a solution, said Paul Balle, a product manager for Microsoft's Internet Explorer team. Internet Explorer is used by millions of people worldwide to access the Web. The program, which has been offered free by Microsoft, is the company's key Internet product. Microsoft's Internet site with information on the flaw is: http://www.microsoft.com/ie/security/update.htm |
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