Sophos warns of unofficial IE patch clash
Applying third-party patches to plug a gap before a vendor fixes its software could cause more problems than it solves, a security vendor has warned.
"It may cause more conflicts further along the line because it is unpredictable if people start going around patching themselves," Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, told vnunet.com.
The security expert explained that some businesses will be understandably reticent about applying the recent Zert patch that fixes a flaw in Internet Explorer because they are unable to know whether Microsoft will be able to cope with it. "When Microsoft does release a patch it doesn't want to have to deal with lots of third-party patches and having to cater for those patches on those computers," he said.
Cluley maintained that IT managers need to weigh up the pros and cons of using a third-party patch themselves.
