Symantec: 'There Is No Safe Browser'
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 25th Sep 2006 15:53 UTC, submitted by Jeff
Privacy, Security, Encryption Hackers are hitting paydirt in their search for browser bugs. According to Symantec's twice-yearly Internet Security Threat Report, hackers found 47 bugs in Mozilla's open-source browsers and 38 bugs in Internet Explorer during the first six months of this year. That's up significantly from the 17 Mozilla and 25 IE bugs found in the previous six months. Even Apple's Safari browser saw its bugs double, jumping from six in the last half of 2005 to 12 in the first half of 2006. Opera was the only browser tracked by Symantec that saw the number of vulnerabilities decline, but not by much. Opera bugs dropped from nine to seven during the period.
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RE[2]: Numbers don't count
by egarland on Mon 25th Sep 2006 16:45 UTC in reply to "RE: Numbers don't count"
egarland
Member since:
2005-08-05

If you're on a Windows box and have an active connection to the Internet, you need some form of active AV. Period.

This is BS. Virus's don't just hop onto your machine at random over the internet. With a hardware firewall and safe browsing habits you can reduce your virus infection risk to near zero. If you have a teenager clicking on every link on everyone's myspace crapsite however.. no amount of AV software is too much.

AV software slows machines and makes them buggy and prone to crashing. For a lot of people the solution is worse than the problem.

Reply Parent Score: 5

RE[3]: Numbers don't count
by orestes on Mon 25th Sep 2006 17:12 in reply to "RE[2]: Numbers don't count"
orestes Member since:
2005-07-06

Yes, because we all know exploits that require no user interaction to do their damage simply do not exist. Certainly not in applications that you would allow through your firewall.

Reply Parent Score: 2

RE[4]: Numbers don't count
by egarland on Mon 25th Sep 2006 18:08 in reply to "RE[3]: Numbers don't count"
egarland Member since:
2005-08-05

What is it with people and bitter sarcasm lately? I need to find an internet that doesn't let obnoxious kids on.

My point is this... those exploits that require user interaction.. they require the user to interact with them. Don't. Avoid risky browsing, especially with IE. Most of the people I know can manage to do it. If you can't, go ahead and load your machine up wiht AV software and cross your fingers and hope that it works.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that without AV you aren't safe and that with AV you are. Anit-Virus software doesn't make you safe it just makes risky behavior less risky. It's like having a parachute when you are flying.. it's only useful if you plan to jump out of the plane and it doesn't make jumping out safe, just safer.

If your computer's security involves detecting when your computer gets infected and reacting to it.. it's not really secure is it.

Edited 2006-09-25 18:13

Reply Parent Score: 5

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