I think that Avast! uses IE to access my updates, but am not sure. I never choose IE on my own, but notice IE files when I use CCleaner. If Avast! uses IE is there a possibility of this recent IE malware alert affecting avast! and my computer? And, if Avast! uses IE can I change the setting to Chrome?
The problem is not just IE, it is the combination of IE and Adobe Flash player.
You need to use IE and have flash player enabled in order for someone to take advantage of this security flaw.
Adobe has released a fix for it. get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
Well as Eddy says in an earlier posting in this thread you have to land at specially crafted sites with Adobe Flash Player active (set the browser to ask permission to enable Flash) to get infested. As the advisory says:
Configure Internet Explorer to prompt before running Active Scripting or to disable Active Scripting in the Internet and Local intranet security zone
These comes from the the latest Microsoft Advisory on this, read all here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/2963983#ID0EEEAC
As you all see there are quite some browser adaptations needed to mitigate this vulnerability, so for the moment one is better of than the Elephant ;D using the latest updated version of an alternative browser. In the case you just have to use IE it is good to know avast has our backs covered. So do not panic, but be aware of the present situation. Hopefully there soon will be a fix-it available for the issue.