A major new security flaw is being reported in the popular browser from Microsoft. The security flaw affects all versions of Internet Explorer from IE5 to the latest beta of IE8.

The flaw is already in wide use as a tool to steal online game passwords, with some 10,000 websites infected with the code needed to take advantage of the hole in IE.

Security pros fear that the attack will soon spread beyond the theft of gaming passwords and into more criminal arenas, as the malicious code can be placed on any website and can be adapted to steal any password stored or entered using the browser.

Microsoft has issued a patch for all recent versions of Internet Explorer, from version 5 to the latest betas of IE 8.

Internet Explorer users are urged to update their browsers as soon as possible by going to the Windows Update.

To learn more about the patch, read Microsoft Knowledge Base entry at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960714.