There is a really big and genuine security issue with Internet Explorer that everyone should pay attention to. As of now, Tuesday December 16, Microsoft has not released a patch to repair the issue.

This flaw has been known about for nearly a week, and has currently spread to over 2 million computers. It is a flaw that hackers are specifically targeting, and you should consider yourself at risk.

From Google News:

The problem, first revealed last week, allows criminals to hijack computers and steal passwords if the user visits an infected website. As many as 10,000 sites have already been compromised to take advantage of the flaw, according to anti-virus software producer Trend Micro.

The recommendation from security experts is to not use Internet Explorer until such time as Microsoft releases the needed patch or hotfix. Use Firefox or Google Chrome instead (or Safari on a Mac). That’s our recommendation also.

As of now, the primary exploitation of this flaw is happening in China. But it is growing fast.

See these stories for more information:

Wired Magazine

PC World

PC Magazine has a manual workaround here that will give sufficient protection to continue to use IE. It is sort of convoluted, but it will work.

Here is another workaround from eWeek.