Break From Your Internet

stumonster · June 26, 2004

now might be a good time for people still using internet explorer to sample some of the other browsers.

This new security issue targets known flaws in internet explorer.(again)

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/2...&tid=172&tid=95

give the mozilla products a try

or maybe opera

stumonster · June 27, 2004

The main exposure to this attack comes from users who surf to one of the infected sites using Internet Explorer. The malicious javascript surreptitiously installs a variant of the Berbew/Webber/Padodor trojan.

http://www.lurhq.com/berbew.html

The trojan appears to be designed for the purposes of "phishing", that is, stealing financial and other account details from the infected user.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident...nload_ject.mspx

Important Customers who have deployed Windows XP Service Pack 2 RC2 are not at risk

RDN · June 27, 2004

Coincidence that you should start this thread - I'm a loyal Gates s/w user (I gave up fighting against Microsoft years ago) but I have just started using Mozilla Firefox 0.9 in the last two days, and it appears to be much much faster than IE. Don't know why, but just flicking backwards and forwards through Thaivisa pages seems to be much faster. Haven't explored all the other features yet but so far, so good.

Kringle · June 27, 2004

To get these do you go to Mozzila and Opera.com or what?

RDN · June 27, 2004

To get these do you go to Mozzila and Opera.com or what?

Go here:

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Phil Conners · June 28, 2004

http://www.opera.com/

benthai98 · June 28, 2004

As a long time linux user, I have been using alternative browsers for a long time. One of the coolest thing abotu them, besides the lack of risk, is that most of them are 'tabbed' browsers. After you go TAB you will never go back.

For those that don't know; TABBED browsers are ones that open a new tab for each website you have open, as opposed to opening anew window. It makes much more sence and keeps your desk top a lot more manageable.

One of the reasons that IE is so much slower is that it is not really a w3c compliant web browser. IE uses a lot of code that isn't HTML correct (so that some things look better etc) and often it slows down the rendering task.

Give some of the other browsers a go. You'll be happily surprised.

ChiangMaiThai · June 28, 2004

I got this Mozilla running. I won't use IE again. This just makes so much more sense. I'm sure there's more to it than I know yet, but the tabs alone make it better than IE. Seems faster too. Thanks!

kabal1234 · June 28, 2004

One word Firefox. Great dev plugins too

RDN · June 28, 2004

I got this Mozilla running. I won't use IE again. This just makes so much more sense. I'm sure there's more to it than I know yet, but the tabs alone make it better than IE. Seems faster too. Thanks!

OK, totally addicted to tabs now! Bye-bye IE!

penzman · June 28, 2004

Sounds interesting but how do you know or can you explain why there are no flaws in these browsers?

Decided to download it and give a try, I ve had it last few days with IE...

Edited June 28, 2004 by penzman

kabal1234 · June 29, 2004

penzeman,

No browser is flawless. Some of it has to do with default IE security settings, some of it is valid, the rest is pure MS bashing.

Hey, I think IE and Firefox are both great software. Apply Software Updates, update v-scanners etc.

..::LegalAlien::.. · June 29, 2004

I have been using Opera myself for years. Always loved the Tabs, and "mouse gestures"... Makes surfing much quicker and easier.

Although Opera still has problems displaying some sites correctly so I switch back to IE for those if I have to, but I am told that is down to poor design...

Does Mozilla have "mouse gestures"? I reakon I could'nt live without them now!!!

stumonster · June 29, 2004

yes mozilla has mouse gestures... go to mozilla.org for info

Highwayman · June 29, 2004

Penzeman, it's not so much that browsers other than IE are flawless, rather that they have only a minor share of the market, while IE probably has 90%.

This means that anyone wishing to make a big splash with an internet worm, spyware etc. will target IE in much the same way as Windows in general, the evil empire of Bill Gates is a target. The recent news of a series of Mac flaws demonstrates that other companies are far from bullet proof, only that their lack of market penetration makes it not worthwhile for the virus writer to write for the Mac, or for Linux etc. Firefox, despite being a great browser is only small fry.

Also l don't think Firefox allows all the Active X and java stuff to default download as easily as in IE (which you can disable, tweak in IE if you wish).

IE works better out of the box for people who aren't interested in tweaking and could care less. Play around with Firefox and you have so many possibilities to improve your browsing compared to IE which is a little outdated, but because it is the market leader can get away with less innovation.

If anyone hasn't already done so with Firefox, click on Tools/Extensions and see just how many extra programs are out there to further enhance your browsing experience. The one l like best of all is the one where you can add a mini search bar that you can customise with as many search engines as you want. Just type in the search term and click on what engine you wish to use from a drop down list, e.g. MetaCrawler, Yahoo!, IMDB, a web dictionary etc. and you get a really quick result.

penzman · June 29, 2004

TABS are great! Lagon IE!

stumonster · June 30, 2004

more bad news for IE users

On June 24th, a visitor to the SANS Internet Storm Center reported that his company was "...in the middle of a very disturbing ... issue regarding the adware/spyware/IE exploit genre..." He requested help analyzing an "encrypted or compressed" file that had been downloaded to a machine at their site. Tom Liston, one of our volunteer handlers, spent the weekend analyzing this issue. His findings are summarized here.

http://isc.incidents.org/diary.php?date=2004-06-29

and tips for firefox users

http://texturizer.net/firefox/tips.html

RDN · June 30, 2004

more bad news for IE users
On June 24th, a visitor to the SANS Internet Storm Center reported that his company was "...in the middle of a very disturbing ... issue regarding the adware/spyware/IE exploit genre..." He requested help analyzing an "encrypted or compressed" file that had been downloaded to a machine at their site. Tom Liston, one of our volunteer handlers, spent the weekend analyzing this issue. His findings are summarized here.

http://isc.incidents.org/diary.php?date=2004-06-29

and tips for firefox users

http://texturizer.net/firefox/tips.html

Nice post, monster, but pretty scary stuff!

Re. your second link: been their already ! - now I'm totally addicted to tabs and mouse gestures! No more hunting the right buttons, just flick your mouse! Brilliant! I just customised my gestures to use up and down for increase and decrease text size - great for reading Thai characters for long-sighted people like me!

On a different subject, do you know how to make MSN Messenger launch Firefox rather than IE when you click on the link that says "x new e-mail messages"?

organic · June 30, 2004

Been using Opera for ages, and, as I used to run an internet cafe out here, I've introduced a fair number of people to it. Many have been amazed how much better it is. Biggest problem was trying not to laugh when I got asked, "But is it as secure as Internet Explorer?".

As for not displaying some sites correctly, what could be happening there is that there are slight deviations between browsers on interpreting CSS, though while I think you'll find IE is the major villain, some designers only test their sites on this.

You may need to retain IE for some services, though, 1 or 2 banks won't accept other browsers, maybe because something like a banking site requires extensive testing, and to up the number of acceptable browsers multiplies their workload.

Yohan · June 30, 2004

try some alternate solutions, which are not related to Microsoft products:

what about trying out the other browsers?

what about trying out other e-mail clients?

what about trying out other office applications?

what about trying out the other Operating Systems?

and most important: keep a good backup of your system and all data....

george · June 30, 2004

more bad news for IE users
On June 24th, a visitor to the SANS Internet Storm Center reported that his company was "...in the middle of a very disturbing ... issue regarding the adware/spyware/IE exploit genre..." He requested help analyzing an "encrypted or compressed" file that had been downloaded to a machine at their site. Tom Liston, one of our volunteer handlers, spent the weekend analyzing this issue. His findings are summarized here.

http://isc.incidents.org/diary.php?date=2004-06-29

and tips for firefox users

http://texturizer.net/firefox/tips.html

Nice post, monster, but pretty scary stuff!

Re. your second link: been their already ! - now I'm totally addicted to tabs and mouse gestures! No more hunting the right buttons, just flick your mouse! Brilliant! I just customised my gestures to use up and down for increase and decrease text size - great for reading Thai characters for long-sighted people like me!

On a different subject, do you know how to make MSN Messenger launch Firefox rather than IE when you click on the link that says "x new e-mail messages"?

Which one of the many Mouse Gestures extensions would you recommed?

francois · June 30, 2004

hi'

let's stick to facts ...

microsoft is an easy target for all crackers in this online world, and as all online software from MS ...

as a long time Linux user, I am used to alternative solution ...

mozilla opera ans netscape ... so much secure than any IE or else from MS

keep in mind that every code written to crack into MS OS go through IE or outlook ...

time to try some others like Stu says

you will, not only surf faster but also with a quiet mind

francois

ps; it's not a MS bashing

rainman · June 30, 2004

I always write the keyword as "security". I work in an industry where computer/server security is one of the most important factors and trust me, nothing connected to the internet is truly "secure". IE may be less secure, Mozilla and others may be more secure, however the true security issues lay deep within your operating system and browsers are the least exploited programs. The Linux/Unix operating system is far more "secure" than any Windows platform, but it is not unbreachable if someone really wants to get in.

RDN · June 30, 2004

Which one of the many Mouse Gestures extensions would you recommed?

I downloaded "All-in-One Gestures 0.11.1" from

http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/?application=firefox

They say it is the most popular "gestures" extension and that it has been downloaded 89,000 times, so hopefully there's not too much wrong with it

Yohan · June 30, 2004

and trust me, nothing connected to the internet is truly "secure"

True - where is a way out, there is also a way in -

But you can make it a bit more difficult for the others, and in case of a breakdown you can make it a bit easier for you.

To study a little about virus-attacks, open ports, dynamic IP, backup-restore and so on does not cost you much money. To keep your system updated with the newest patches and newest virus-dat-files is often neglected by customers.

It is not always the fault of Microsoft, if something goes wrong.

A very important point is backup + restore of all your data....

If some hardware breaks down, or you got some greetings from internet-friends, how can you restore your system quickly without loss of data?

Using not-Microsoft related OS and programs in a second computer might help you a lot in case of a fatal crash.

Crushdepth · June 30, 2004

Sounds interesting but how do you know or can you explain why there are no flaws in these browsers?

Mozilla (and other open source browsers) are developed through a community process - the code is open so there are stacks of people playing with it and spotting bugs. M$ keeps its code a secret, and because they have fewer people working on it they tend to make more mistakes. A lot of open source software is now more reliable than its commercial counterparts, for example mysql has a policy of 'no known bugs in production releases'. Nice.

The M$ is working off a very old and rickety code base too, so they are stuck with a lot of legacy issues. I wish they'd throw it out and start again. Sooner or later they'll have to.

stumonster · July 1, 2004

The U.S. government's Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is warning Web surfers to stop using Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) browser.

http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3374931

full US cert article

http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/713878

holm188 · July 1, 2004

Hi,

I'm using greenbrowser (http://www.morequick.com/indexen.htm). It is based on IE, so probably keeps the security issues, but it is much better user interface (tabs, mouse gesture, pop up & ad blocking, etc.). Anyone tried it?

What is the difference between Morzilla (the browser part) and Firefox?

Cheers, Holm

george · July 1, 2004

Mozilla has both browser and email. Mozilla Firefox is a standalone browser. Mozilla Thunderbird is Mozilla's standalone email client.

Thetyim · July 2, 2004

Thanks for this thread, it is very useful.

I have now changed to Firefox. It is noticeably faster.

I have also been using http://gemal.dk/browserspy/ to compare Firefox with IE6. I do not pretend to understand all these tests but Firefox always comes out on top.

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