Explorer Security Alert

It's sorted if you've received the latest updates from MS ( and you most likely have ).
Mine arrived at midnight on 18th.

 

yep seems to be ok now just got the latest updates:gnthb: a bloke at work got an e mail last week sent from his e mail to his e mail and it said we have your details...frightening:cnfs:

 

I had some update the other day but just did the auto thing on shut down. I've grown rather attached to firefox, I like it when I click on the internet and all my tabs are there set up on the three sites I use, this being one of them

Thanks for the info.

 

I tried Firefox some time ago whilst also using IE (main)!

What I found over a period, was when I ran a check for Spyware etc,which I do regularly, I found all sorts of "evil" rubbish, cookies and sites installed, which I never had and never would visit, lurking in Firefox.

The spyware cleared them out for me, but on the next check lots more were back again.

I did not and do not have this problem in IE!

I got rid of Firefox, end off problem.

I am the only one using the computer, so it was not anyone else visiting and downloading the ****.

Has anyone else got or has this problem ?

Cheers!

 

I installed FF when I first heard about the IE threat so have not been using it for long and so far have had no probs though I do tend to switch between both browsers 50:50. FF seems quite good, but does seem to take a bit more time to start than IE and to be perfectly honest I've not really explored it fully.
I doubt that any internet browser is 100% safe and I think the best form of protection is good anti-virus/spyware software that is updated at least daily with regular full system scans.

 

Anything which runs under the Windows system is bound to have some vulnerabilities, that's one reason why I've switched to Ubuntu/Linux. The other is that I can have the latest system and software without charge (legally), together with a vast choice of software.

 

Have just run a Spyware check,first since my posting on the 29th.

What came up was 3 tracker cookies (it says legitimate applications) and one (potentially unwanted adware) called Tradedoubler.
This one is always there when I check, I have not been able to trace which site it downloads from!

I am not in anyway defending Microsoft as thet are a bunch of cowardly bullies, but there are many, many fewer lots of "stuff" in IE than there was when using FF.

Cheers!

 

Well, I've spent the last few years of my spare time writing patches for Linux. You would be suprised how buggy and rough it is in places, and there is plenty of scope for it to be attacked. I'm a huge linux fan, and plenty of my own code is running on your machine right now, but unlike the majority of Linux users, I don't think it's any more secure than a well patched version of windows, especially Vista.

If you want a really secure operating system, then use a BSD variety, or CentOS, which is a re-cut linux designed to be highly secure. The reason why Linux is generally considered more secure is that it only has <0.5% of the population using it. So why would an attacker spend time trying to pop it?


I'm writing this on a Windows machine, because Mrs Steve doesn't get on with Linux very well, and it was the machine that was on when I sat down.


Using the internet carries with it some level of risk. BAck up your important data. Accept that tomorrow someone can come out with a new worm that could trash your machine and treat your machine just like that. It's by far the safest way.

We live in a time when, for $600 and an hours work, a bad guy can point www.gardenerscorner.co.uk towards www.badguyssite.com without it's users ever knowing. When the same person can sit between yourself and your bank, and pluck your credit card details out of the air - as of last week, even using SSL ( the secure system with the lock icon ) has now been completely broken.

We are getting close to the point where attackers will start to turn off large chunks of the internet, at will. It's almost certain to happen in 2009.

So - accept that the internet is the wild west. treat it as such and you;ll be fine.


Steve

 

Very well put Steve, you've summed up the current (and future) situation perfectly.

 

I have been using Firefox for some years now with no problems. I stopped using a "POP" mailbox sometime ago, I now use an "IMAP" mailbox. This does not download any files to your computer only the headers.

I am now in the process of changing from Firefox, Thunderbird and KompoZer to the SeaMonkey suite (which contains the complete set in one package) the Composer part of it works OK with the 64bit processor (KompoZer doesn't).

I don't have any need for AV programs as I use Ubuntu/Linux.

 

"We are getting close to the point where attackers will start to turn off large chunks of the internet, at will. It's almost certain to happen in 2009."

Perhaps we have to take a leaf out of the USSR's book, take control of the Internet by stopping all ISTD, make all international traffic go through the operator. Then anyone who attacks a website will have to be under our own jurisdiction and can be successfully prosecuted. Any countries which allow these pests to operate could be isolated.