Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Why You Should Dump Internet Explorer
The time has come to dump Internet Explorer. I know, I know — you may have heard the same thing before from those that think it’s cool to hate Microsoft; but I’m not one of those guys. I’m actually an MCSE and I happen to like quite a few of Microsoft’s products. Rather than lump me into the Microsoft-basher category, consider for a moment why you use the browser you use, and humor me by entertaining the notion — if even for a second — that switching to another might be worth your while.My argument is simple: the benefits of using IE are too few - and the faults too great — to put off the adoption of an alternative any longer.
Security
Since information security is my hobby/job/obsession, this particular topic is near and dear to my heart. Just about everyone reading this has seen computers that have been beaten down with spyware - the evil junk that hijacks IE and renders a system virtually useless. How many times have you been called to a family member’s house to clean up their system? Or had to call your techie friend to come clean yours? It’s often quite awkward - the system slows to a crawl and every other mouse click conjures up some species of perverse, obscene image. What most people don’t realize, however, is that there is a very simple and powerful way to defend your system (and/or the systems of your loved ones) in one fell swoop.
Don’t use Internet Explorer
What makes other browsers better than IE at protecting vs. spyware and other attacks? Well, it’s simple really - most other browsers don’t make it so easy to install malicious software on your system without you knowing about it. IE makes it relatively trivial through two features called ActiveX and Active Scripting. These technologies were designed specifically for the purpose of giving websites more control over a user’s computer. Unfortunately, as we have seen with exploit after exploit - that’s not always a good thing.
In addition to the spyware issues, IE in general has had a terrible track record when it comes to all types of serious security issues. For years now, it’s seemed like every time you turn around there is a new way to have your computer taken over via Internet Explorer. Put “internet explorer” and “allow an attacker to execute commands” (with the quotes) into Google and you’ll see what I mean.
In IE’s defense, many anti-Microsoft types will claim that it’s not possible to lock down IE at all. This is not true. It is possible — but if and only if you have a fair amount of technical know-how on the subject, and the time to do it. My personal view, however, is that tools such as Internet browsers should not require expertise and configuration time to be able to use them safely.
Standards
This is likely to get me in some hot water with my fellow security enthusiasts, but I find this issue to be of even more concern than that of IE’s security. The Internet works for one simple reason - everything at its core has been built on agreements that bind it together. Whether a computer is connected from California or Sri Lanka, it’s going to speak the same language and obey the same rules - the rules defined by standards. If this weren’t the case there would be no Internet at all. These agreements are forged by a body of people whose goal is nothing short of designing a better and more efficient Internet for everyone. Microsoft, for some odd reason, seems bent on breaking stride with these agreed-upon standards. Case in point: the next time you’re in a bookstore, head over to the technology section and pick up a book on XHTML or CSS. These are two major web standards that deal with how web pages are displayed to users, and within any book on the subjects you will find one common theme:
"The absolute worst browser when it comes to supporting the standards is Internet Explorer"Page after page in these books will reveal features supported in other browsers, but not in IE. Ask yourself why a company would choose not to support standards that benefit everyone? The way I see it, it’s for precisely one of two reasons — either they are unable to, or they don’t want to. Given the fact that they are a multi-billion dollar company (one of the richest on the planet), I can’t help but lean toward the second option. Without going into too much detail (See Longhorn), they have their own plans, and those plans involve implementing their own standard and forcing it upon the world. Call me a geek/hippie, but the idea of a multi-billion dollar corporation snubbing its nose at agreed-upon standards is nothing short of infuriating.
Options
Lucky for us, we have alternatives. The good news is that the alternative browsers are actually as good or better than IE. There are many out there, but in my opinion the Mozilla products are the best. I personally prefer and recommend Mozilla Firefox. Not only does it keep your browsing sessions a lot more secure and spyware-free, but it also supports the standards religiously and has a wide range of powerful features. Arguably the biggest benefit to using a Mozilla-based product is something called tabbed browsing. What this allows you to do is have multiple pages open within a single browser window. Rather than going from window to window in the taskbar, you can simply switch between clearly visible tabs, all within the same view. You can even do this and many other commands via the keyboard if you are into that sort of thing.
Using Firefox will not require any major shift in your daily browsing habits. It’ll import your favorites automatically, and you can benefit from the improved security starting the first time you open it. With the popup blocking enabled, you can breath quite a bit easier when browsing to unknown sites. Attempts to install garbage on your system that could have easily succeeded if you were using IE will simply be ignored by Firefox. Plus, the whole time you’re browsing you’ll know that you are doing your part to keep the soul of the Internet alive by choosing to use a browser whose developers actually care about standards.
Of course, I still use IE. (pause for effect) …it’s how I get my Windows security updates. : Seriously though - Windows Update is a must, and it only works in IE, so that in itself is a good reason to fire up IE once in a while. Aside from Windows Update though, there is still the occasional site that I go to that doesn’t look right in any other browser. Those sites, by the way, are all the more reason to not use IE. They weren’t written according to the standards, and they look bad in any browser other than IE as a result of that fact. Using IE all the time just because the occasional site is designed so poorly as to look like crap in other browsers is utterly bad form. I implore you not to give into this temptation.
Wrapping It Up
So, in closing, I leave you with two thoughts:
1. Due to the combination of ActiveX, scripting, and its integration with the Windows operating system, Internet Explorer is more vulnerable to attack than many other browsers.
2. The designers of Internet Explorer have purposely turned their back on the standards designed to benefit the Internet as a whole. They have done this for years, continue to do it today, and appear to have nothing but their own interests at heart.
I ask that you consider these points and pull down a copy of Firefox, Opera, or another alternative browser. Run it for a week and see how it feels. As mentioned above, I personally recommend Firefox due to its excellent development team and large user base. Once you have had some time to get to know your new onramp to the web, I think you’ll find that you’ll wish you had switched sooner. No longer will you have to worry about garbage clogging up your system because of your browser, or having to make a mad rush for a patch every time an IE vulnerability is released.
Finally, and most importantly - spread the word. It’s time now for us to put alternative browsers on the map and let it be known that we are aware of our choices. We need not settle for what we are being fed when there are better, more secure alternatives out there.
Source: Daniel Miessler
Thursday, December 01, 2005
13 Reasons To Use Firefox Over IE
For me, the biggest factor that inspired me to start using a browser other than Internet Explorer was the constant bugs and security fixes that were plaguing the latter, not to mention the tons of plug-ins that took over your browser. Changing your homepage to some paid advertiser, or adding a toolbar that does the worst job possible when searching.The majority of these spyware and vulnerabilities are commonly programmed for Internet Explorer being that IE holds over 70% of the internet browser market. There are other browsers out there that can compete with IE, but Mozilla Firefox (formally known as Firebird) is a complete browser filled with tons of features that’s only light in size. From a built in pop-up blocker that works better than many commercial pop-up blockers, to tabbed browsing, these are just two of the factors that contribute to making Firefox an internet browser’s dream.
Popup Blocking
In this day in age, an internet browser without a popup blocker is like having a broadband connection without a fireball. “Firefox stops annoying popup windows dead in their tracks”, according to Mozilla.org, and that’s exactly what it does. Visiting a popup blocker test page, Firefox’s built in popup blocker was able to close all popup windows while the page loaded and during the page's onload() event. At http://www.popup-blocker.info’s test page, several test can be ran to prove your popup blocker’s power. Mozilla Firefox’s built in popup blocker was able to handle the “Stress Test”, which according to pop-upblocker.info… “[Stress tests] attempts to overcome your pop-up killer by trying to spawn large numbers of windows as quickly as possible.” Firefox’s popup blocker was able to close all 200 popup windows without even breaking a sweat. Trying this with IE and no popup blocker would probably bring your pc to its knee’s. You can also easily access the list of websites that the popup blocker blocks and altering it’s state by a simple click.
Download Manager
A feature which I thought was going to be integrated in Internet Explorer 6 was a download manager. Download managers allow you to manipulate and take control of your downloaded files. Mozilla Firefox’s download manager contains just the essentials to allow you to control your downloads. You can pause your download and continue it a later time, something which is not possible with IE’s download manager. Apart from sporting a nice look, the download manager stores the information such as size and location of your downloaded file. When the download is complete, a small notification is displayed in the lower right side of the screen.
Tab Browsing
Because having too many windows open at a time can be a bit annoying, not to mention time consuming, Firefox features tab browsing. Here’s more on tab browsing from Mozilla’s homepage…”Tab-Browsing changes the way you use the internet by allowing you to open links on a page in background "Tabs" and then read them when you're ready. No confusing new windows, no need for context menus, just hold down Ctrl when clicking a link, or use your middle mouse button (if you have one).”
Integrated Search Engine
Now why didn’t the IE programmers think of this? Mozilla Firefox comes with a built in search engine. The default search engine is Google’s, of course, with the ability to add others. The search entry takes up a very small space, which is a plus when compared to those huge toolbars out there.
Options
Less confusing and cluttered than IE’s Internet Options is another factor in Mozilla’s Firefox. You can easily navigate through each setting. Deleting saved passwords is a snap and clearing any saved history. The “Downloads” section of the options allows the user to choose which program will automatically open a downloaded file.
Page Info
When right clicking on a page (PC users), selecting “page info” will pull up a window displaying vast amount of information for the webpage. General information as well as a Link tab showing all the links that the page contains.
Faster Response
A typical webpage will load faster on Mozilla Firefox than Internet Explorer.
Keeps HTML Formatting
Mozilla Firefox is able to keep the html format when copying from a webpage to a text file. For example, when copying html formatted text from a webpage and pasting it on a note pad, the text copied using Mozilla Firefox keeps the format yet the text copied from IE doesn’t.
Security
Because many of those malicious plug-in’s that cause your everyday web surfing into a trip to the DMV are mostly programmed for Internet Explorer, having Mozilla Firefox as your internet browser can save you tons of headaches.
Open Source Advantage
The Mozilla project is an Open Source project where thousands of independent programmers can work on finding security holes before they are exploited.
Cleaner Interface
Firefox isn’t filled with clutter such as a history button or other buttons that take up most of the area in Internet Explorer. Firefox offers 2% more space to web pages than Mozilla, 4% more than Internet Explorer, and a whopping 10% more than Opera.
Smaller Download
Ignoring the fact that Internet Explorer comes integrated with Windows, Firefox is almost half the size of Internet Explorer meaning half the time downloading.
Block Images
When right clicking on an image, the user is given the option to block all images from that webpage. This feature comes in handing when visiting a site that holds many pictures, many due to ads, which can be disabled for faster surfing.
Mozilla Firefox is an alternate browser to IE with features that, I believe, surpass the latter. Firefox has defiantly broken ground in the war of the browsers. I know there are many out there who would think otherwise and never settle for any browser other than IE. Think of it this way, if Mozilla Firefox was integrated by default into Windows besides IE, would you switch to another browser?
Source: www.flexbeta.net
