There has been a lot of discussion in the European press about how secure Internet Explorer actually is. This has stemmed from a reported attack on Google using vulnerabilities within IE.
The German Federal Office for Information Security & the French Certa have both issued warning saying that people should not use IE but search for another browser.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8463516.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8465038.stm
It is well known that the European Union have had a number of battles with Microsoft over Microsoft using its monopoly position on computer operating systems to unfairly 'force' people towards using Explorer as an internet browser. So is this just another shot across the bows by the EU or are they saying something that is sensible.
I subscribe to a free journal called ZDNet. It has shows articles written by various technical journalists that are usually factual & well developed pieces. This is their take on the 'crisis'.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1663
It is quite long (5 pages) but well worth the read.
I think its' conclusions are...
You really should not be using IE6 unless it is for an over whelming technical reason.
No internet browser is 100% secure and users should realise this and take the relevant extra measures necessary to protect themselves.
The perceived extra security of browsers other than IE is more because they are not currently gaining the attention of hackers rather than because of real security.
No operating system is secure. The piece on the contestant gaining illegal access to a new fully configured Mac in SECONDS is well worth any smug Mac user taking notice of.
So it looks like I will carry on with FireFox & AGV along with spam ware software, running CCleanear – the same as before....








