In a statement issued today, the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (known as BSI) recommends that all Internet Explorer users switch to an alternative browser.

The BSI says they may resume using Explorer after a fix is issued by Microsoft for a critical vulnerability that has been implicated in the Chinese cyberattack against Google. Keep in mind that Google uses Linux for its operation, however IE and all other browsers including, Opera, Firefox, Konqueror and Chrome are able to visit. This means using IE is not only a risk to your own machine, but any you visit. Think of this as going door to door with Swine Flue shaking hands with whoever answers after you were told you were carrying the flue.

If you missed it, yesterday McAffee released a report outlining details of the cyber assault on Google and around 20 other major technology companies. It specifically implicates a critical flaw in all versions of IE that allows hackers to "perform reconnaissance and gain complete control over the compromised system." Microsoft has responded that it is developing an update to the vulnerability.

Note that the flaw is in all versions of IE including the latest - 8. This means the flaw has been around for years but has only recently been used in major attacks. The flaw in question has been pointed out to Microsoft several times in the past. Until now, Microsoft insisted it was too small a flaw to be exploited and too technical. I feel that if an outside entity found it, another one will as well, denying a vulnerability like that is the main reason I switched to Firefox a few years ago. Not long after that I also switched to Linux, but that's another story.

If Microsoft has had knowledge of this for years, it is uncertain how long it will be for a patch. For an easy transition to an alternative browser that looks, feels and generally operates similar to IE, I recommend Firefox (this is my personal opinion, not my employers).

The related link has a translation of the original BSI article.