by Yizuman 27 Replies latest social entertainment
Simon:
You're correct that security flaws are found in every product, even non-Microsoft ones, but at the same time we need to compare each product's track record. How many exploits have been discovered for IE? How about Mozilla/Firefox? I trust Firefox over IE.
I have been using Firefox almost exclusively for a while now and love it. If you got your HTML message posting component to work with non-IE browsers, we'd appreciate it.
Novell Netware is still way more secure
Just don't trust Border Manager and you'll be ok! :-P
Ok, if everyone switched to Mozilla / Firefox do people suppose the problems would end?
I don't ... I think that people would just attack that instead. It is the danger of having what is largely a monoculture and at the moment IE get's attacked most.
What I think would be best is for the browser not to matter. If they all supported open standards (XHTML/CSS/EMCAScript) then it would not matter which one everyone used and the implementation would be less relevant.
I've never had any problem with IE and I've used other browsers as well.
People can get the wrong impression and see one product or platform as "secure" and another as "insecure". This is not correct.
What matters is updating and patching. Security is a process, not an end-point. You will never be "secure" and able to put your feet up.
Using Windows and your security is wide open? Ok, change to Linux ...
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3341341
http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/linux/story/0,10801,88936,00.html
Same problems ... because what is often wrong is not the OS but the person at the wheel. If you fail to address vulnerabilities in any system then you will have problems.
Novell Netware is still way more secure
If it was the dominant OS would it still be as secure? How much of the security is because it isn't much of a target?
If I wrote my own OS (SOS ... Simon's Operating System, LOL) then I could declare it secure ... look, no exploits and no viruses. Of course not, which idiot would waste their time writing one for it? There is only me using it ...
Backup your data
Buy a seperate Firewall, learn how to configure it. Ones that integrate with the router or modem are okay but less flexible.
Have an AV system that updates automatically or do it yourself religously.
Run AdAware or somesuch as a regular check-up or if you have problems like mysteryously appearing toolbars (iSearch is a bastard but the latest AdAware Pattern kills it) or opening browser windows.
Malware and spyware are the only things that have got onto a work computer or home computer of mine, ever. I've always had viruses stopped by virus scanners, or known that something with TWO file extensions is trouble.
That way you can use a product that offers about the highest level of compatibility with the websites out there it's reasonable to expect.
All other browsers I've used fail badly in displaying a website on a regular enough basis to make MSIE a good choice.
It's like saying spectacles with big plastic lenses that don't work good for all viewing distances are safter and better than varifocals made of glass. Yes, if you get punched in the face they are, but it's more pleasent to avoid being pounched in the face and waer decent specs.
If it was the dominant OS would it still be as secure? How much of the security is because it isn't much of a target?
I'd be willing to bet that it has less to do with the target factor (and there are some Novell servers in places a lot of people would like to get to, and not just to prove they could do it), then the fact that Security was Novell's number one concern when Netware 4, 5 and 6 were written. NT and its successors were developed for east-of-use, I suppose. Security was the underlying concern behind NDS. NDS has been around a lot longer then Microsoft's Active Directory, and subsequently there has been a long time for people to find a lot of flaws. It's had some flaws, but not many. I can go to sleep at night, not worrying about an attack on my NW servers, or some bizarre error popping up in the middle of the night as a database is being backed up, but I do have worries over my 2000 servers.
One of my 2000 servers (an FTP server) recently had a virus attack, some varient of the Sasser worm that got out before there was a patch available to prevent it, and before MCafee had an update to answer for it. That particular virus simply could not have infected the Netware box because of the way the modules are loaded. That server wasn't particularly critical, but if it had been, I would have been hosed.
People tell me there are a lot more NT/2000/XP servers out there then Netware boxes, but it takes fewer Netware boxes to do the same chore. I am biased, but that is my opinion.
I think you're missing the point, Simon. The problem is that some components of this site do not work with alternate browsers. More and more people are using alternate browsers because of strong recommendations to move away from IE (by CERT and others).
