As if US-CERT's recommendation of not using IE wasn't enough, now Microsoft's own Slate magazine has an article touting the benefits of Firefox over Internet Explorer. Surprisingly it has been up since June 30th and not removed by someone who notices the irony.
This isn't an official company recommendation, but an article written by an author who made the switch to avoid the security. None the less, it is posted on a site controlled by Microsoft, and the author does point out a lot of the advantages of Firefox over IE, as well as provide some tips to improve your installation experience.
Noteworthy quotes include:
- No matter how well [Internet Explorer Users] had protected themselves against viruses, spyware, and everything else in the past, they were still vulnerable to yet another flaw in Microsoft's browser. - All of Microsoft's products that connect to the Internet have this feature!
- I've been using [Firefox] for a week now, and I've all but forgotten about Explorer. - The nightmare's with the cold sweats finally ended last night.
- . . . Internet Explorer has been stuck in the mud for the past year, as Microsoft stopped delivering new versions. - Just like Microsoft, once they kill the competition, they kill the customers.
One interesting comment in the article is in the last paragraph:
. . . But for now, there's safety in numbers - the lack of them, that is. Internet Explorer is used by 95 percent of the world. Firefox's fan base adds up to 2 or 3 percent at most. Which browser do you think the Russian hackers are busily trying to break into again?
Some people say that the security as a result of providing a less appealing target because of a smaller user base isn't really a feature. In response I ask you this: If you are looking for a good place to raise your family, would you consider a less populated suburb with a very low crime rate an improvement over a highly populated, downtown urban housing project with a crime rate so high even the police are afraid to visit? The way I see it Firefox, Opera, etc. are the suburbs - the place we all really want to live. Internet Explorer is the housing project - the place we get stuck, and are only happy with because we don't know any better. Or we may be stuck there because our work requires us to live there, or we have some relations that require us to be there.
My suggestion is do anything you can to move out. If we spread our numbers out then we make ourselves a less appealing target. If there are sites that require you to use IE then education them on why they should support other browsers!
Make the move! Life is better here!
2 comments:
Obscurity is no protection. Firefox is just as susceptible to security exploits as any other software, including IE. For example, here's one where Firefox allows arbitrary program execution.
I couldn't agree with you more. Security by obscurity is only the illusion of security. I never said that Firefox was less susceptible to security exploits.
My point is that a suburb has less crime. Not that it has no crime, but it has less crime. Firefox may have security flaws, but that is less of a big deal if less people are seeking to exploit it.
Also a huge deal is that the vulnerability in Firefox / Mozilla was patched as soon as it was discovered. The patch was available before most people knew of the vulnerability, and way before any known exploits were launched. This is a huge improvement over Microsoft's deny, downplay, ignore, patch routine.
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