HS 2.0 Rick makes a statement!!

[rocco]

Rupp, the last straw with IE was when one of my XP machines, with SP2 and the pop-up blocker enabled, got infected again anyway. Coupled with the fact that some of my machines run NT4, I didn't see any alternative except for Firefox.

However, I might give Avant a try, I did not know about it before. Thanks for the tip, Gordon.

 

[electron]

there are tons of exploits which sp2 doesn't cover, Avant won't cover them either since it still uses the IE engine (but it does stop some of the popups, but SP2 does this as well). The next version of IE does look promising, but it will be a while before that's out.

 

[Skibum]

I am simply amazed that you all would blame IE for your woes... I only run IE, browse many hours per day, and have not had a single instance of popups, or any other mal-ware.

Do you really hate IE 'cause it is MS???

 

[electron]

I have been working in IT for many years, it's just a fact. Sign up for the Microsoft Security bulletins, and you will see how many issues there are (post SP2). I am far from being anti MS, I am usually the one silencing the MS bashers, but I believe in using the right tool for the job, and MSIE is not it at the moment.

 

[Skibum]

I firmly believe that the only reason that you hear of so many faults in IE, is simply because it is the browser that is used by more than 90% of the internet users. Why try to crack Firefox's vulnerabilities when you have more fodder with an IE one.

Also... I am of the opinion that you get what's coming to you.... If you are browsing hackersareus.com, you deserve anything you catch.

You are not gonna get any adware by browsing nasa.gov.

 

[rocco]

I firmly believe that the only reason that you hear of so many faults in IE, is simply because it is the browser that is used by more than 90% of the internet users. Why try to crack Firefox's vulnerabilities when you have more fodder with an IE one.

Also... I am of the opinion that you get what's coming to you.... If you are browsing hackersareus.com, you deserve anything you catch.

You are not gonna get any adware by browsing nasa.gov.

Ski, That is all true.

But as long as the exploits target IE, I will stick to Firefox. When Firefox becomes a target, I hope there will be something else to switch to.

I can't police all of the sites my employees, wife or dog visit. I believe the music-download sites are largest source for add/mal/ware, but people feel they need to download music. And one of the first browser hijacks I ever encountered came from X10.com. So you can't totally avoid infection by practicing safe computing.

And I really like nasa.gov

 

[Skibum]

Agreed.

Try xten.com you'll like it better...

 

[electron]

The difference is that when Firefox does have an issue, it's fixed by the time they make the announcement or the next day.

As for the "you get what's coming to you" opinion, my wife used to go to 1 single site with her computer, nothing else, it was an online bingo game, hosted by a very big company (uproar.com). The site went through many changes and totally ruined the OS, I don't see how she deserved that one.

 

[jwilson56]

Well before I switched my wife to Firefox I was constantly dealing with the spyware so of which was as bad as any virus I have come across. I know she only goes to craft sites, joke sites and Yahoo games. No site that would be considered anything but mainstream. So I would have to agree that IE has problems. I am sure Firefox does also but hackers and other don't like MS and yes IE is more popular. Its kind of like a officer in a warzone wearing his fancy uniform when using IE. Your the one they are going to aim at. Firefox is like the peasant walking the streets. They will most likely leave you alone.

John

 

[smee]

And Firefox has tabs built in - no plugin or frontend required.

 

[huggy59]

All it takes is for a single misspelling or typo in a URL once, and you're on a site that was made to infect you. My ex was the biggest typo-ist with URLs! And yes, the worst sites I've seen in regard to adware are song lyrics and music sites...

I got hit just last week and I've got the latest patches and everything. It was a SIGNED ActiveX control that somehow got loaded without permission from a link gone bad... what a mess!

 

[electron]

And Firefox has tabs built in - no plugin or frontend required.

The new version of IE will support tabbed browsing as well from what I hear, so hopefullly MS has learnt their lesson and will pay attention to Firefox.

 

[Bruce L]

I know IE has lots of unintentional security hole but what really makes me mad is the lack of user control. Take huggys example - he should be able to turn off activex control loading, or autoloading of browser helper objects (BHO). If I could stop those from loading I think I could prevent most of the nasty software for creeping in. Granted there are still security problems (backdoors) but at least I could stop the flood coming in the front doors.

Bruce

 

[Skibum]

Take huggys example - he should be able to turn off activex control loading, or autoloading of browser helper objects (BHO). If I could stop those from loading I think I could prevent most of the nasty software for creeping in.

In IE,
Tools, Internet Options, Security.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I was thinking the same thing Ski, wondering if he was talking about something else (i.e. the active-x control bypassed this somehow).