A serious security vulnerability that affects people using a combination of Real Player and Internet Explorer on Windows PCs may have been discovered by NASA. Symantec has assigned the vulernability its highest possible threat level, according to Computer World.
The method in which Real Player works in tandem with Internet Explorer has created a hole through which malicious code can be downloaded to a person’s PC when they visit certain Web sites. An excerpt of the alleged NASA memo warning of the vulernability can be found on Roger’s Information Security Blog.
Although Real Networks is aware of the vulnerability, no fix is available at the time of this writing. Users are advised to either cease using Internet Explorer or uninstall Real Player until a patch is released. If you must use Real Player, Mozilla Firefox is a good alternative to IE.
Source: Mashable.
