A Consuming Experience

Both of the major browsers Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox recently issued important security updates.

You've probably heard about the critical Internet Explorer security flaw which even hit the mainstream media, e.g. see the BBC news report which noted that the security hole could let criminals "take control of people's computers and steal their passwords".

If you use Internet Explorer or Firefox (particularly the former), you're well advised to upgrade your web browser ASAP:

• Download the Internet Explorer 960714 security update, scroll down to find the download for your version - menu Help, About Internet Explorer to check which version you have (you'll need to use the general update site if you have Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, but you can download the security fix for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1).
  
  
• Download Firefox 3.0.5 or download Firefox 2.0.0.19 - incidentally if you're still using Firefox 2 you really should upgrade to Firefox 3 as Mozilla aren't planning to provide any further security or stability updates for Firefox 2.

For those of you who aren't using Firefox yet - why not? It's as easy to use as Internet Explorer, a lot more powerful in terms of free useful or fun extensions or add ons you can install, and probably most importantly it's generally a lot more secure (especially if you download the free NoScript extension). I plan to write a short post extolling the virtues (but a couple of minuses) of Firefox soon, to help persuade the unconvinced (you know who you are!).

I actually use 3 different browsers for different purposes: Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera (and I'm playing with Google's Chrome). E.g. if I'm going to a site I don't know or completely trust yet, I'll use Firefox with NoScript. If I'm impatient or need speed I use Opera, e.g. as a reference browser with lots of tabs open at the same time relating to a subject I'm looking into. And I use IE if a site just won't work in anything else, or just to split out identities (for one identity I login to Webmail etc in Firefox, for another in IE, etc.)

Labels: internet security, web browsers

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