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Microsoft won’t say when they will release a patch to fix this leak. According to Microsoft, the ‘cracked’ build of Internet Explorer 8 is not the same build as the final version they released on Thursday, but the leakage can be found in both versions.

Microsoft Security Response Center confirms this to TippingPoint, organisator of Pwn2Own, a hacking contest where Internet Explorer 8 has been cracked. Microsoft promissed that Internet Explorer 8 was equipped with improved security and improved speed.

Internet Explorer 8 prevents automatic downloading of malware, and is able to resist ‘cross site scripting-attack’. According to a research led by NSS Labs (commissioned by Microsoft), the first release candidate version of Internet Explorer 8 was able to block sixty-six percent of malware, before it could damage the system.

Mozilla Firefox could block thirty-three percent of malware, Safari could block twenty-five percent of malware, and Google Chrome could block seventeen percent of malware. Nils, the hacker who found the leakage in Internet Explorer 8, gave all available information to Microsoft about the leak he found.

The developers of Internet Explorer were able to reproduce the leakage for a short time, and they analyzed the found leakage. Security company TippingPoint rewards hackers for succesful and greatly documented cracking methods since 2005.

After leaks have been found, the subsidiary security company of 3Com gives all information to the developers of the cracked programs. On the first day of the hacking contest Pwn2Own, the three major browsers Safari, Internet Explorer and Firefox have been cracked.

The hackers part of the Pwn2Own contest found brandnew leaks, that have not been patched yet by the developers of these browsers. These leaks give crackers the chance to take over an unsecured computer.