Firefox fans put new spin on browser protection

CNet News ^ | 04/20/2005 | Paul Festa

[Born Conservative]

Ping

[blaze]

I wont be using it, I just spent two days getting my computer de wormed. It got in using firefox.1.03

[KeyWest]

ActiveX is still the biggest problem that MSIE has.

Most of the problems cited have been found by Moz developers and fixed, as opposed to MS who refused to take action on many bugs, until the bugs were made public by those who found them.

I will stay with Moz. It is still more secure.

[ShadowAce]

[Moral Hazard]

"I wont be using it, I just spent two days getting my computer de wormed. It got in using firefox.1.03"

And what was your email software? That's where most worms get in.

[Redcloak]

"Swarm"?

[Redcloak]

Those aren't bugs in IE; they're features!

[Malsua]

I wont be using it, I just spent two days getting my computer de wormed. It got in using firefox.1.03

All that in 4 days, whew, a whirlwind

What was the name of the worm you caught? Don't know? If you don't know, how is it that you are certain that it came in via Firefox? Are you saying you were polluted up with Spyware or actually caught a worm? What site did you visit that caused this infection?

[12 Gauge Mossberg]

This sounds more like a hatchet job on Firefox than an actual balanced article.

[frogjerk]

Firefox allows less malware to get onto my PC compared to IE, hands down.

[timtoews5292004]

I have both installed on my home PC but my wife still uses IE, even though I showed her how much better FireFox is. One of these days, though.

[timtoews5292004]

or, if my fingers typed what my brain were telling it to, "one of these days we'll make the switch for good."

[frogjerk]

I've converted my family and in-laws to Firefox. So far, no stupid IE support calls. :)

[timtoews5292004]

all the senior citizens at my church who have internet access, have come to me for help because they've fried their systems beyond recognition thanks to spyware, malware, etc. One lady had 1,748 items turn up in an ad-aware scan. in addition to an AVG scan that had 27 viruses. If they keep bringing their systems to me, I think I will begin installing firefox on their machines and setting it as the default browser.

[ChefKeith]

I fix one for a guy at work last year- over 3000 AdWare finds and 425+ virus.

I can't beleive the thing even booted.

Be sure to go to Holymoly for free downloads to solve and prevent troubles.

I run Win98SE with Mozilla,AdWare,SpyBot,SpywareBlaster,AntiVir and I've set the cookies to ask for clearance. Works like a charm.

[ChefKeith]

fix=fixed

[Tannerone]

I have been on Firefox about one year and NO problems. With IE problems!

Best of all NO Pop Ups.

I do use two firewalls and AVG for Pop3 mail.

If you do not have your email protected you are begging for trouble!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

but my wife still uses IE, even though I showed her how much better FireFox is.

Rather than just taking it away from her, transition her.

What I did when I got resistance to an outright changeover was to hand her the use of "GreenBrowser". It is a tabbed browsing interface that overlays MSIE. It really is quite nice. It will get her used to the tabbed browsing interface while leaving all of her favorites etc, in place. One of the nice things is that it does not have to be installed and runs from a single executable file.

Then after a while, switch to Firefox. I told my wife that there were valid security reasons for doing so. She had to agree after I showed her the difference by running spyware scans after browsing sessions with both browsers.

[Moral Hazard]

" If you do not have your email protected you are begging for trouble!"

I had a former employer who actively discouraged employees from using Outlook Express or Internet Explorer due to security concerns. I don't understand why this policy is not more widespread (or why some employers even require IE or Outlook) considering all the IT headaches they save.