Why Firefox?

F

Fuzzy Logic

YEs, and no. More vulnerabilities, but if you took the
problems found in all non-IE browsers combined, IE's flaws
would still outnumber them ten to one.
Click to expand...

Check out these links:

IE Vulnerabilities in 2004 - 19, 10 Outstanding

http://secunia.com/product/11/

Firefox Vulnerabilities in 2004 - 12, 3 Outstanding

http://secunia.com/product/3256/

Opera Vulnerabilities in 2004 - 10, 1 Outstanding

No where near 10 to 1, unless you are talking for the life of IE vs the life
of the other browsers (hardly a fair comparison since IE has been around a
lot longer than a lot of the competition).

In any case many of these vulnerabilities are quite obscure, difficult to
exploit or of little consequence.
And virtually all other companies fixx their software within
days if not weeks. Some IE security bugs are several years
old.
Click to expand...

I stand by my argument that you should pick a well supported browser that
YOU like and keep it patched and hardened, practice safe surfing skills and
you are very unlikely to encounter any security related problems.
 
C

Christopher Jahn

And said:
Check out these links:

IE Vulnerabilities in 2004 - 19, 10 Outstanding

http://secunia.com/product/11/
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3374931


Firefox Vulnerabilities in 2004 - 12, 3 Outstanding

http://secunia.com/product/3256/

Opera Vulnerabilities in 2004 - 10, 1 Outstanding

No where near 10 to 1, unless you are talking for the life
of IE vs the life of the other browsers (hardly a fair
comparison since IE has been around a lot longer than a lot
of the competition).
Click to expand...

Here's a site that supports that figure, at least to some
degree:
http://www.greymagic.com/security/advisories/
In any case many of these vulnerabilities are quite
obscure, difficult to exploit or of little consequence.


I stand by my argument that you should pick a well
supported browser that YOU like and keep it patched and
hardened, practice safe surfing skills and you are very
unlikely to encounter any security related problems.
Click to expand...

You might believe that IE can be "patched and hardened" into a
safe browser. You might also believe in the easter bunny.

The fact is that IE is not safe "out of the box", and once
patched, you're only on a countdown to when the next flaw is
revealed. And THEN you're on a longer countdown to when that
flaw is patched.

--
:) Christopher Jahn
:-(

http://home.comcast.net/~xjahn/Main.html

She's a virgin child with deviant dreams.
 
B

Ben Cooper

Bob Adkins said:
You have the horsepower to run it.

It's a little slower, and a little tricky to set up, but if you're
patient you can be rewarded with a decent browser.

I've tried FF 3 times now, but keep gravitating back to Maxthon, an IE
add-on which has all my favorite features. Maxthon, by the way, has an
option to run on the Mozilla engine. I haven't found any advantages
to it, or I would. I think the security issues are a little overblown.
Click to expand...

I agree with you that the 'security issues' are overblown. Microsoft has
a worldwide sized target on their back. It's like shooting at a barn
wall; it's hard to miss.
 
C

Conor

The fact is that IE is not safe "out of the box", and once
patched, you're only on a countdown to when the next flaw is
revealed. And THEN you're on a longer countdown to when that
flaw is patched.
Click to expand...
THe same as Firefox and Opera et al.
 
F

Fuzzy Logic

http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3374931
Click to expand...

Quote from the above article:

"To protect against the flaw, IE users are urged to disable Active
scripting and ActiveX controls in the Internet Zone (or any zone used by
an attacker). Other temporary workarounds include the application of the
Outlook e-mail security update; the use of plain-text e-mails and the use
of anti-virus software.

Surfers must also get into the habit of not clicking on unsolicited URLs
from e-mail, instant messages, Web forums or internet relay chat (IRC)
sessions"

As I said you need to properly configure IE and avoid questionable
sites/practices.
Here's a site that supports that figure, at least to some
degree:
http://www.greymagic.com/security/advisories/
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what figure it supports?
You might believe that IE can be "patched and hardened" into a
safe browser. You might also believe in the easter bunny.

The fact is that IE is not safe "out of the box", and once
patched, you're only on a countdown to when the next flaw is
revealed. And THEN you're on a longer countdown to when that
flaw is patched.
Click to expand...

Ditto for any other browser. It may 'appear' to be safe but I can
guarantee flaws will be found after it's release. For example:

http://news.com.com/2102-1002_3-5368397.html?tag=st.util.print

I don't wish to start a 'my browser is better than your browser war'. Just
the opposite. I want to emphasize that security is a process not a
particular piece of software. Regardless of the browser you use it WILL
have vulnerabilities and it's up to the person sitting at the keyboard to
ensure it's properly configured, updated and that they avoid questionable
sites/practices.

Something to ponder:

http://www.humanfirewall.org/rhfwm.htm

Another quote that empasizes this:

"Yet simply switching is not an effective security solution. Only if you
use the proper security tools and remain vigilant about staying up to date
and cautious about what you do online should you start to feel some sense
of comfort."

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,1761,a=130479,00.asp
 
A

Aaron

yes and so we shouldn't guess which software has a bad record, since we
are all doomed anyway :)
Oh, yes: http://secunia.com/advisories/12526/
Click to expand...

Come on, no one ever said other software does not have
vulnerabilities.Besides just update to 1.0 PR and you are safe.

And unlike IE, where such critical exploits are announced routinely for
months or even years before they are fixed, the ones you link to above
was already fixed, before the annoucnements.
 
F

Fuzzy Logic

yes and so we shouldn't guess which software has a bad record, since we
are all doomed anyway :)


Come on, no one ever said other software does not have
vulnerabilities.Besides just update to 1.0 PR and you are safe.
Click to expand...

You are in a fantasy world and missed entirely the point of my post. I don't
care what browser you are using you are NOT safe. I can guarantee there are
vulnerabilities in 1.0 PR that just haven't been found YET. The same goes
for any other browser currently available.

Thinking that running a particular browser suddenly makes you safe on the
web is a very dangerous attitude to have. Much like driving a SUV somehow
makes you impervious to hazardous situations. Security is a process not a
piece of software or hardware. Again I reiterate that you should find a
supported browser YOU like, lock it down, keep it patched and practice safe
surfing and you are likely to be as safe as you can realistacally be.

From <http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,1761,a=130479,00.asp>:

Yet simply switching is not an effective security solution. Only if you use
the proper security tools and remain vigilant about staying up to date and
cautious about what you do online should you start to feel some sense of
comfort.
 
?

=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BBQ=AB?=

You are in a fantasy world and missed entirely the point of my
post. I don't care what browser you are using you are NOT safe. I
can guarantee there are vulnerabilities in 1.0 PR that just
haven't been found YET. The same goes for any other browser
currently available.
Click to expand...

But AFAIK there is only one browser with vulnerabilites which /have/
been found but go unfixed.
Thinking that running a particular browser suddenly makes you safe
on the web is a very dangerous attitude to have.
Click to expand...

I don't think anybody does believe that. Switching suddenly makes you
safer, though.
 
C

Christopher Jahn

And said:
You are in a fantasy world and missed entirely the point of
my post. I don't care what browser you are using you are
NOT safe. I can guarantee there are vulnerabilities in 1.0
PR that just haven't been found YET. The same goes for any
other browser currently available.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree, but why start climbing by jumping into the
abyss that is IE?

--
:) Christopher Jahn
:-(

http://home.comcast.net/~xjahn/Main.html

The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds.
The
pessimist is afraid that it is.
 
?

=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BBQ=AB?=

Really.

You should see the list for Moz/Firefox on Secunia.
Click to expand...

You should see it. The two Secunia lists for Fx 0.9.x and Moz 1.7.x
contain exactly one unpatched vulnerability, which has to do with
Apple's implementation of Java for OSX. Mozilla.org can't fix this;
it's up to Apple. Secunia has marked it "less critical".
 
C

Conor

You mean the relatively small list that has been addressed in
the latest releases of Moz/Firefox?
Click to expand...
Some of those things on that small list allow someone to run executable
code on your computer or open it up so all files can be seen. So whilst
the list is short, some of the entries ARE VERY CRITICAL indeed.

And of course the whole world has upgraded to 1.0PR/1.7.3 haven't they?

How many posts in forums/newsgroups have you seen where people have
reverted to FF 0.9.3 because 1.0PR broke things?
 

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