German government warns against using MS Explorer

[robbo43]

Hi Beth...
Not sure what you mean by this but I hate having to go and open IE to open up some sites.  How do you do it?

Milly

Go to Tools - Add-ons - Get more Add-ons - Search All Recommended Add-ons.  Find IE View & install it. It lets you load pages in IE with a single right-click, or mark certain sites to always load in IE.

If on the add-ons front page you searh for IE in all add-ons it will come up with a number of other add-ons that do similar things but IE View & IE View Lite are the most frequently used.

Robert

[downside]

Something isn`t right with this. I must be missing something?

No one is really worried about it as it does not pose a great threat to mankind.

[Nick29]

Looking at something I find quite worrying where Microsoft is concerned, is the following. It refers to the exploit in question in this thread.

Microsoft was originally made aware of this vulnerability in August 2009 and confirmed its severity in September 2009.

Now if MS have known about this for months, then why didn`t they do something about it sooner?

This IE security update was already planned for release on the next scheduled Patch Tuesday (9 February), Jerry Bryant, senior security program manager at Microsoft, said in a blog post.

If the security update was planned for release 9th Feb, then that would imply they had the patch already or do they leave things until the week before the usual monthly updates are required before building/making/testing & whatever these patches?

If MS already had the patch, then surely they should have released it immediately not almost a month after the attacks on Google, Adobe & 30 other companies, I`m sure a few questions will start to be asked.

Something isn`t right with this. I must be missing something?

You're missing something - when you patch a program, chances are that you will create a "bug" when you do it, so it has to be tested before release.  The patch writing and testing can take several weeks.   This is how hackers can always stay one step ahead, because it all takes time.

[stevieuk]

You're missing something - when you patch a program, chances are that you will create a "bug" when you do it, so it has to be tested before release.  The patch writing and testing can take several weeks.   This is how hackers can always stay one step ahead, because it all takes time.

Theres a slight difference between several weeks & 5 months.

How about a 17 year old flaw in Windows?

[Nick29]

This is the corporate world we're talking about...... nothing happens fast, because everyone is busy attending brain storming sessions, daily meetings, Health & Safety lectures and team-building exercises.  That leaves them just enough time to read and reply to their emails before they all go home again.  Ahh, the joys of working for a corporation ! 

[millymcb]

Thanks Robert - will try it out
Milly

[downside]

Goodbye IE6.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8488751.stm

[Family Tree Maker]

I believe the warning was only against older versions of Internet Explorer. If you make sure to upgrade to the latest version then you will be fine. But if you are looking for another browser then Firefox is definiately the best.

[wyndham]

According to Secunia PSI (Personal Software Inspector), IE8 is still insecure and currently there is no solution.  This is despite this weeks updates.  Unless you have any strong preference for IE8 I would definitely switch to Mozilla Firefox.