The German government agency overseeing IT-safety is warning of a security breach in Microsoft's Internet Explorer and recommending people use other browsers until the problem is fixed.

The Federal Office for Information Security said in a statement late Monday the browser's "weak point is already being used for targeted attacks."

It warns the code to attack computers running on Windows XP or Windows 7 operating systems through the browser is freely available online and might therefore spread rapidly.

The agency says users of Internet Explorer versions 7, 8 or 9 should switch to alternative browsers until Microsoft updates its browser's security features.

Microsoft Corp.'s German division was not immediately reachable for comment Tuesday morning.