Hackers are exploiting a security bug in earlier versions of Internet Explorer that allows them to remotely execute malicious code, Microsoft warned on Tuesday.

The vulnerability in IE versions 6 and 7 allows remote attackers to gain the same access to the affected PC as the local user. The bug, which stems from an invalid pointer reference, either doesn’t exist in IE 8 or can’t be exploited in that version, providing users with yet another strong reason to upgrade to a modern browser

Adobe’s ubiquitous Reader application has replaced Microsoft Word as the program that’s most often targeted in malware campaigns, according to figures compiled by F-Secure.

Files based on Reader were exploited in almost 49 per cent of the targeted attacks of 2009, compared with about 39 per cent that took aim at Microsoft Word. By comparison, in 2008, Acrobat was targeted in almost 29 per cent of attacks and Word was exploited by almost 35 per cent.

“Why has it changed?” F-Secure asks here. “Primarily because there has been more vulnerabilities in Adobe Acrobat/Reader than in the Microsoft Office applications.”

Google is offering a cycling option for users of its map service.

If you ask Google for directions in some US cities from today you can choose “bicycling” as an option, alongside “by car”, “walking” or “by public transport”.

The company said it had been the most requested feature since the map site launched.

Cisco Systems Inc introduced its first major new routers in six years and said they can be configured to handle Internet traffic up to 12 times faster than rival products.

Cisco, the world’s largest network equipment maker, said up to 72 of the new CRS-3 routers can be connected for capacity of 322 terabits per second (tbs). The new routers hit the market in the third quarter of this year.

At that maximum configuration, Cisco boasted the routers could in theory deliver every movie ever made in four minutes over the Internet, or connect China’s entire population of 1.3 billion people by video conference at the same time.