MSN Tech & Gadgets posted their review of the three biggest threats on the Internet for 2007; IE, phishing attacks, and malware.
Even Microsoft agrees that IE is a security mistake waiting to happen and users should be using Firefox and Opera, not IE!
IE provides the biggest payoff for malicious hackers who set out to exploit its flaws.
The biggest problem with IE is its reliance on Microsoft’s ActiveX technology, which allows Web sites to run executable programs on your PC via your browser. Security patches and upgrades, including Windows XP’s Service Pack 2 and the recently released IE 7, make ActiveX safer, but the inevitable flaws that allow malware to circumvent those security measures–combined with the reality that we computer users are often a credulous lot–make ActiveX a risk not worth taking. Happily, with very few exceptions (such as Microsoft’s Windows Update site), you can browse the Internet effectively without ActiveX.
MSN : Thwart the Three Biggest Internet Threats of 2007
Sure this is a reprint from PC World, but the irony is deadly and one has to wonder who’s doing the quality control over at MSN and how long this article will stay posted.
[Thanks to Sushubh Mittal for sending this story in :) ]
awesome!
Someone needs to be fired…
Why does it seem like MS continually shoot themselves in the foot but unlike other companies who do this, continue to be successful?
No, somebody did their job right by linking to a PC World article, just like all the other PC World articles they commonly link to.
Loren, you did notice that the article still recommends IE 7 later in the review?
If you set IE to prompt on all activex, your IE will be perfectally secure and you’ll have very little to worry about. All this anger and moaning over something you can fix yourself is pretty dumb.
You know, for M$ to republish an article which names their own browser as the #1 Internet Threat of 2007 is quite powerful, regardless if the article later on still recommends IE7 or not.
If I were an MSN user or subscriber, and clicked on this story, I’d be thinking twice about their browser and looking at other alternatives.
Sure, you have to hand it to MSN for addressing this issue (if anyone at MSN even had any part in selecting this article from PCWorld, which is doubtful), but the cup of irony is filled to the brim on this one :)
And yes, if IE would set as default to prompt on all activex, the world would be a much better place.
Thanks for the comments!
The strong and rising undercurrent of Firefox/Linux users may indicate that Microsoft users are missing something.
It appears as though the story has been taken down.
Actually Firefox was less secure in 2006 than IE:
http://www.populartechnology.net/2006/09/internet-explorer-6x-more-secure-than.html
And if you were concerned about security you would be using Opera, get the facts:
http://www.FirefoxMyths.com
Andrew,
I’m not disputing Opera’s security, but as a Firefox user I have not ONCE had a security issue in the several years since dumping IE.
When I ran IE I was constantly going through computers to try and stay ahead of the flaws.
I think most Firefox users are in the same boat.
-Eric
What is the cost for MSN Internet service