With Microsoft acknowledging that a flaw in its Internet Explorer (IE) was exploited for the recent attacks on Google’s systems, Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security has warned web users against the use of IE; thereby recommending the use of an alternative browser so as to ensure security.

Urging web users to avoid using IE until Microsoft comes up with a patch to fix the “critical” security flaw, the Bonn-based office posted a statement on its Web site saying that even if the users may run the browser in “safety mode,” the attacks by hackers “cannot be fully prevented.” 

The warning by the German government has been rebuffed by Microsoft, with the company specifying that the risk to users was ‘low;’ and that any serious risk can be averted by the increased security setting of the browser. 

Admitting that the company was aware of the warning by German authorities, Thomas Baumgaertner, a Microsoft spokesman in Germany, clarified that the attacks on Google were by “highly motivated people with a very specific agenda.”

Baumgaertner said: “These were not attacks against general users or consumers. There is no threat to the general user; consequently, we do not support this warning.”

Nonetheless, German authorities are insisting that even the setting of the browser’s security zone to “high,” a precautionary measure suggested by Microsoft, does not spell complete safety for IE users.