France, Germany warn against IE6, 7, 8.

[donizme]

France has echoed calls by the German government for web users to find an alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) to protect security. Certa, a french government agency that oversees cyber threats, warned against using all versions of the web browser. Germany warned users on Friday after malicious code - implicated in attacks on Google - was published online.

But Microsoft told BBC News that IE8 was the "most secure browser on the market" and people should upgrade. Cliff Evans, head of security and privacy, said that so far the firm had only seen malicious code that targeted the older version of its browser, IE6. "The risk is minimal," he said. For a web user to be affected, he said, they would have to be using IE6 and visit a compromised website. "There are very few of them out there," he told BBC News. However, if this did occur, a PC could become infected with a "trojan horse", allowing a hacker to take control of the computer and potentially steal sensitive information. "Microsoft themselves admit there is a vulnerability, even in IE8," said Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos.

Although the vulnerability has so far been exploited only in IE6, security researchers warned that could soon change. "Microsoft themselves admit there is a vulnerability, even in IE8," said Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos. Mr Cluley said that because details of the exploit were now available online, hackers could soon change the code to target other versions of the browser.

But Microsoft's Mr Evans said that calls to change browsers were "not very helpful". "If you look at other browsers, it's likely they will have other vulnerabilities," he said. He pointed to a report by security firm NSS Labs reportedly showing that IE8 provided better security against phishing and malware than other browsers. "We feel strongly that IE8 is most secure browser on the market," Mr Evans said.

Microsoft is currently working on a patch for the problem, but a spokesperson said it could not commit to a timeframe. The firm traditionally releases a security update once a month - the next scheduled patch will be ready on 9 February.