A hole in Internet Explorer is being exploited by hackers who are using the vulnerability to install software that can steal credit-card numbers, log-on information, and passwords.  The damage from this spyware program is yet unknown.

Mac and Linux users who run Internet Explorer are not affected by these recent woes; Windows-based PC users are.

Commercial Web site administrators are working to remedy problems on their end.  Sites that use Microsoft's Windows 2000 Server and Internet Information Server 5 software are at risk, and a fix is available from Microsoft.

What to do

On July 2, Microsoft began offering users of Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 some help:

- Go to www.microsoft.com/security/ incident/downloadject.mspx. There, Microsoft will link you to the updates you need.

This Web page also has instructions on how to check your computer to see if it has been infected with malicious code, and there are links to anti-virus sites that can help.

- At www.microsoft.com/security/ incident/ settings.mspx you can read Microsoft's suggestions of ways to "Increase Your Browsing and E-mail Safety."

Until the July 2 action by Microsoft, security experts were suggesting users take strong steps, including disabling the JavaScript and ActiveX features of Internet Explorer.  They're strong steps because without such features, Web sites don't have the same look or functionality.

For example, JavaScript, a programming language, is used to create the dialogue boxes we use for putting in quantities and totals when we buy something online.

If you still want this option, the steps for disabling JavaScript and ActiveX are in Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article 154036.

Go to: http://support.microsoft.com, click on 'Knowledge Base Article ID Number Search' and type in 154036.

Because there are different versions of Internet Explorer, you'll need to follow the steps that apply to the version you're using.

About 95 per cent of computer users worldwide employ Internet Explorer, according to WebSideStory.  The remainder use other Web browsers such as Netscape (http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/), Opera (www.opera.com) and Mozilla (www.mozilla.org).

If you want to switch, don't try to delete or uninstall Internet Explorer from your computer if you are a Windows user.  Doing so will create new problems for your PC and will make it difficult to get Microsoft updates from its Web site.

You can keep Internet Explorer on your computer but add other browsers, and move back and forth between them.

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