[opendtv] Tide Turning in Browser Wars?
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 07:35:58 -0400
Just when we thought the "browser wars" were over...
Looks like some Windows users are going to learn how difficult it is
to install and use an alternative Web browser to Micrisoft's flagship
"integrated" Internet Explorer. I started hearing about the latest
vulnerabilities in IE several days ago, via a tech segment on our
local Talk radio station. The commentator is a side-kick on a local
afternoon show, who also runs a company that specializes in "Digital
Marketing" and PC maintenance/sales. Mr. PC's (no, I'm not kidding)
advice is to switch to the Mozilla browser.
Now the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team is recommending that
people stop using IE as well. Could the hackers finally be winning
the war, exposing Microsoft's seemingly endless vulnerabilities?
Could this kind of negative publicity wake people up to the options
that exist for running a PC today, without paying their tithe to the
boys in Redmond?
Regards
Craig
US-CERT ADVISES SWITCHING BROWSERS
In light of a recent announcement about an "extremely critical"
security vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE), the U.S. Computer
Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has issued a warning advising
computer users to stop using Microsoft's browser. US-CERT is a
nonprofit formed in September 2003 by the Department of Homeland
Security and the public and private sectors to improve computer
security preparedness and response. According to the US-CERT notice,
there are "significant vulnerabilities in technologies relating to the
IE domain/zone security model, the DHTML object model, MIME-type
determination, and ActiveX." The IE bug allows hackers to install
spyware on users' computers without any action on the part of the
user. The notice goes on to say that, particularly for browsing
untrusted sites, use of another browser is an effective way to avoid
the security risks mentioned.
Internet News, 29 June 2004
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3374931
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts: