The Internet is a notoriously insecure communications medium. And much of the blame for that is due to the design flaws of the world's most popular Internet browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE).
To its credit, Microsoft has in recent years sought to make its flagship browser more secure. But the fact is, the bulk of malicious programs circulating on the Internet exist because of flaws in the security architecture of IE. In many cases, simply viewing a "bugged" Web page is enough to compromise your PC.
Another serious problem is the in all versions of Windows, IE is literally part of the operating system. Any changes you make to security settings in IE affect your entire PC. And, if IE has a serious problem, reinstalling the program may not fix it. You may need to reformat your entire PC's hard drive!
Now, hackers have discovered yet another serious flaw in IE—one that allows them to steal passwords you enter when you log into your online bank or securities accounts. Microsoft admits it has not figured out a "patch" to solve the problem. And hackers are moving quickly to exploit the flaw. As many as 10,000 Web sites have already been compromised.
Microsoft has come up with some complex "workarounds" to the problem. You can read about them here. The best way to deal with the fundamental flaws in IE, however, is to ditch it for a more secure browser. Unfortunately, you can't uninstall IE altogether, because it's part of all Windows operating systems. But, you can use an alternative browser, such as Mozilla Firefox.
Firefox and other non-Microsoft browsers aren't perfect. They all have their own security vulnerabilities. But because they are standalone programs, those vulnerabilities tend to be less serious. Also, since these programs have a smaller installed base, hackers find them less attractive targets.
I've been using Firefox for more than two years. Other than the fact it’s a huge memory hog, I love it. A few applications designed specifically for IE that won't run on it, but as Firefox's popularity has increased, the number of incompatible applications has declined.
One thing's for sure. Until Microsoft makes fundamental changes in the design and implementation of IE, hackers will continue to find and exploit security flaws in the program. But since IE is by far the world's most popular browser, Microsoft has little incentive to do anything more than fix problems as they arise.
If you're concerned about Internet security, your only real alternative is to stop using IE. And the sooner you do it, the better.
Copyright © 2008 by Mark Nestmann
(Microsoft has now issued an emergency patch for this vulnerability. To download it, go to http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS08-078.mspx.)
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