A warning by Microsoft - todays BBC News

[Rove]

On the BBC News today

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7784908.stm

I've only used Internet Explorer in my many years on the Net. That is since 1998.

I'm thinking of downloading FIREFOX and switch over till we hear from Microsoft that the patch has been downloaded to their program.

Any suggestions appreciated

Thanks.

[David Wilkins]

Hi Rove,

I have been using Firefox for some time now and found it excellent. I do not use Internet Explorer at all if I can help it.

I have also recently downloaded Google Chrome after reading a good review in a local PC magazine here in New Zealand. I have been trialling it and it is slightly quicker than Firefox and easy to use. you might like to give that some thought too. At the moment Google Chrome is my default browser and so far I am impressed.

At the end of the day you need something you are comfortable with but these two are good on security.

Hope this helps.

David

[harfin]

I haven't used IE for years - the latest issue is one of many that has reportedly occurred.

I have used Firefox and Thunderbird for years and find them to be very user friendly and secure.

My philosophy is that "gates" are unstable, by their very design they are supposed to swing about and can sometimes come right off their hinges :-)

Alan

[michaelpipe]

Change to Firefox anyway. Far less problems, and it appears to be faster. I've been using it for some time, and will not revert to IE,

Michael

[MarkJ]

No browser is 100% safe - by its very nature.
However, some are less insecure than others for various reasons.
Obscure browsers tend to be ignored by the ne'er do wells who seek flaws in the browser to exploit for example. Of course, they can still suffer problems when a more generalised problem comes around.

As most folks will know, I don't use Windows - thus I don't use Internet Explorer either.

Firefox is a good browser which I use myself, however do not be fooled into assuming that it is 100% safe either. The current IE specifc flaw would appear to not affect Firefox (although to be honest, I haven't looked at the nitty gritty as yet), but Firefox gets its share of attention from the scum who seek to make our lives a misery online.
The big advantage with Firefox over the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser is that Firefox is constantly being checked for problems by thousands of developers and security people around the world. Issues which are found are fixed very quickly - usually within a day or so, sometimes in hours - the updates are then passed to the users.
With IE, flaws are often found by the miscreants long before Microsoft get to hear about it - so the risk extends over a longer period. Then, once Microsoft do find and fix the problem, the fix is not issued to the users until "Patch Tuesday" (i.e once a month).
Very occasionally, Microsoft do issue an emergency fix - but that is rare, even with serious issues. They prefer to roll everything up and dish it out once a month.

Re Harfins comment -
My signature on emails is -

In a world without walls and fences, who needs Windows and Gates?


Mark (100% Linux systems)

[NickM]

I haven't used IE for years - the latest issue is one of many that has reportedly occurred.

I have used Firefox and Thunderbird for years and find them to be very user friendly and secure.

My philosophy is that "gates" are unstable, by their very design they are supposed to swing about and can sometimes come right off their hinges :-)

Alan


Is MSIE more insecure ? Or is it just that it is targetted more because it is the world's most-used browser ? Anyone who thinks that other browsers don't have security holes are deluding themselves.

How many people in this discussion have a full virus checker and firewall ? Just as important - in fact, probably more so !

[NickM]

On the BBC News today

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7784908.stm

I've only used Internet Explorer in my many years on the Net. That is since 1998.

I'm thinking of downloading FIREFOX and switch over till we hear from Microsoft that the patch has been downloaded to their program.

Any suggestions appreciated

Thanks.

The warning did not come from Microsoft, but Microsoft are investigating claims by "internet experts" (whoever they are ?). As usual, the BBC has managed to create a very large article around very few tangible facts.

[MarkJ]

Is MSIE more insecure ? Or is it just that it is targetted more because it is the world's most-used browser ? Anyone who thinks that other browsers don't have security holes are deluding themselves.

How many people in this discussion have a full virus checker and firewall ? Just as important - in fact, probably more so !

You will note from my comments that I don't suggest that IE is more of a problem than any other browser ;)
As you say, it is targetted because of its popularity (at least partially).
The main problem with IE - apart from the obvious "targetability" - is the speed at which Microsoft actually fix things.

On the firewall front, all computer users who connect to the internet should have a firewall. If they don't, well frankly they shouldn't be online.

As far as AV is concerned, if someone is using Windows, then yes, they should have up to date anti virus protection. I would also recommend a malware tool such as Spybot S&D or Lavasofts AdAware.

Linux and Mac users are in a slightly different position - anti virus software is not needed for those at the moment (although I suspect this will change over time). A firewall is still vital though!

[MarkJ]

The warning did not come from Microsoft, but Microsoft are investigating claims by "internet experts" (whoever they are ?). As usual, the BBC has managed to create a very large article around very few tangible facts.

Sorry Nick, but Microsoft have issued this one -

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/961051.mspx

The Beeb simply try to make it a little less "techie" for their readers.

[NickM]

Sorry Nick, but Microsoft have issued this one -

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/961051.mspx

The Beeb simply try to make it a little less "techie" for their readers.

Yes, but that is rather old news, and 11 security updates have been issued since then.

[fudgecake]

I use firefox and find it very good indeed, i do however use IE for msn as i seem unable to work out how to do that on firefox. I have not had many problems with IE and so far in over 5 years of use no probs with firefox at all, although i do think that as it becomes more popular it will become more of a target. Cant beat a good firewall and virus checker which is updated very regularly

[NickM]

A patch for the security problem in IE7 has been available from Microsoft since 18:00 GMT on 17/12/08. If you have security updates set to automatic, you probably already have it, otherwise you will need to manually update by going to Start >> Windows Update.