Germany & France: Stop Using Internet Explorer
German and French officials warned people against using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer pointing out it has a security hole that hackers are believed to have exploited in recent attacks on Google, Baidu and other internet companies.
Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security, known by its German initials, BSI, said in a statement that Internet Explorer advised “temporary use of alternative browsers” because of a “critical security hole” in Microsoft’s software that allows hackers to remotely plant and run malicious code on Windows PCs.
France’s CERTA agency, meanwhile, in a statement recommended the use of alternative browsers until a corrected version was available from Microsoft.
The security vulnerabilities are believed to have been exploited by hackers in a recent cyber attack on Google and other companies in China.
In a statement, Microsoft said the company doesn’t agree with the German or French agencies recommendation to switch browsers.
“It is important to note that all software has vulnerabilities and switching browsers in an attempt to protect against these, highly publicized but currently limited attacks can inadvertently create some false sense of security”
Well I switched to FireFox which seems like at least a couple of years ago and never looked back.
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Once you switch browsers you never go back. Users want to feel safe online and I guess this might just be the beginning of the end for IE, not only in those countries but around the world. You can’t have worse publicity than your product being unsafe.
I stop use IE few years back, and since then never had single problem with FF. There is so many companies out there who develop web based software trough IE, and they will be hurts as well. I guess Microsoft should or would come up with something not to lose the products, and many business that rely on IE.
I personally love FF, and will stick with it..
Any suggestion that other browsers or indeed any software is safe is pure nonsense. IE provides web access on over 90% of enterprise desktops. Obviously more usage means its more likely to be involved in incidents.
Data Execution Protection is enabled in IE8 by default. Users and IT departments need to keep their software up to date.
Even within any web browser there are other factors, e.g. the ubiquitous Flash plug-in in which countless security vulnerabilities have been identified in numerous versions. When a problem is detected in software, an update is released, which is why users much keep up to date.
I agree with Tim Acheson here.
Security is a continuous process, not a product. You are vulnerable as long as you’re connected to the Internet. There is no safe product, they only minimize the risk on a certain level but not fully solve it.
Chrome or Firefox right now is recommended. IE 8 new feature is also an excellent product. Sooner or later, you will hear security issue with these browsers.
I personally use Chrome and IE 8 for browsing, and set them to auto delete my cookies when I close the application. This is to remove your tracks.
Microsoft is improving their security services. They just recently announced the Microsoft Security Essentials where it will protect your Windows operating systems against anti-virus, anti-spyware, and malware related scripts. I blog it here:
http://www.king.net/2010/01/microsoft-security-essentials.html
Now with your windows OS, you can save $50 (approximate cost) for anti-virus software. And set to auto Windows Update to keep you up to date.
IMHO Any browser is ok to use as long as they are up to date with latest security patches.
Cheers,
EM @ KING.NET
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I think that Google has decided to reveal the China’s spy story, NOT to do anything against China NOR to leave a so rich market but ONLY to reveal to the entire world the IE security issue…
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I switched to Firefox years ago, and use the NoScript plugin and a few other security plugins. No problems. Of course the biggest risk is “where you go” and “what you download/click”.
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the latest Firefox versions are slower and often freeze my PC but I prefer to use it and Opera rather than IE8
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All browsers are insecure, some hackers can break them within a few minutes, this is the fact that has already occurred.
I always use firefox….HOHO