Slashdot Mirror


Dept. of Homeland Security Says to Stop Using IE

LWATCDR writes "I have been saying this for a long time but now it is offical. From Yahoo News: 'The Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team touched off a storm this week when it recommended for security reasons using browsers other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer.'" In related news, rocketjam writes "According to Wired, the widespread Internet Explorer security exploit last week and CERT's subsequent recommendation that IE users should consider switching to another browser has resulted in a large spike in downloads of the Mozilla Organization's Mozilla and Firefox web browsers."

43 of 1,069 comments (clear)

  1. Bad Bureaucrat! Naughty! by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Funny
    Bad, bad, bad! No more bribes for you!

    What's next, a recommendation that everyone stop using Microsoft Windows?

    New: Microsox Windlls FU SP7 w/Ubernet Exploiter (a free pile of bugs in each release!)

    I have been saying this for a long time but now it is offical.

    <Shakespeare mode=Hamlet>: There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave to tell us this.</Shakespeare>

    Really. How long before the Whitehouse figuratively grabs Tom Ridge by the lapels and tries to throttle him. Such harsh treatment for a huge dono^H^H^H^Hemployer. Oddsbodkins, what next, the GWB DoJ was soft in pursuing the danger of monopoly exploitation of the browser market?

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Bad Bureaucrat! Naughty! by ScottGant · · Score: 4, Funny

      Billy G. is looking through his bribe-book and is making a big cross-out in it.

      Now he's trying to find John Kerry's phone number to tell him "hey, wanna be President? No problem, you're in...the stuff that happens in November is just a formality, but trust me, my next call is to Diebold to finally tell them who I want to win...just remember to have your guy tell everyone that IE and Windows is the OS of choice now...buh bye"

      --

      "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
    2. Re:Bad Bureaucrat! Naughty! by xlyz · · Score: 3, Funny

      why should he call them up? they are running their stuff on winCE

      he just need to update some dll and that's it ;)

    3. Re:Bad Bureaucrat! Naughty! by 222 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Only on slashdot could a webserving platform serve as a factor in a presidential election....

  2. Of course by savagedome · · Score: 4, Funny

    resulted in a large spike in downloads of the Mozilla Organization's Mozilla and Firefox web browsers

    Duh. All our friends at Microsoft need it too.

    *grin*
    *grin*

  3. Man, this'll be just liek when video games normed by laigle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now all us computer nerds will lose our counter culture edge. Plus you'll no longer be able to detect a fellow geek merely by his browsing choice. I guess we'll have to go back to tossing off random Kevin Smith quotes and seeing who catches on.

  4. Profit by richdun · · Score: 5, Funny

    1) Create product that a smaller portion of the population uses, thus keeping the effectiveness of attacks on your product less desirable than the other 2) Give your product away for free, open sourced, and up to date with all the latest standards, oh, and make it more secure (novel idea, really) 3) ??? (wait about five or six years for a government agency to declare your competitor's product unsafe enough to get the CERT all riled up) 4) Profit, or How Mozilla Pays M$ Back for The Whole Killing of Netscape Thing

  5. Homeland Security actualy works!!! by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 5, Funny

    wow!!

    --



    I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
  6. Heh, oops... by Malor · · Score: 5, Funny
    From the Yahoo article:

    Alternative browsers such as Mozilla or Netscape may not protect users, the agency warned, if those browsers invoke ActiveX control or HTML rendering engines.
    Phew, thank goodness the open source coders are smart enough to leave those nasty HTML rendering engines out of web browsers!
  7. Homeland Security Be Damned by RabidChicken · · Score: 5, Funny

    Recently I was cleaning rather obnoxious spyware off of my sister's laptop. To prevent further infection, I was asking her to install Firefox. I said it'll block popups. Still reluctant. Tabbed browsing? Nope. More secure? Nu uh, still stubborn. Stop the spyware? No. (She's getting irritated at this point). CERT Recommended to stop using IE? Still won't let me install it.
    *pause*
    She then asks if our mother uses it. I said yes (thanks to me).
    "Ok, install it."

    Homeland security be damned, it's the MOTHERS we need to convert.

    1. Re:Homeland Security Be Damned by mandolin · · Score: 4, Funny
      We need to stand up and tell all the family members and friends we're supporting for free - we are, after all, unpaid Microsoft technical support, without whom the users might as well be using command-line Unix - that they can either stop using IE, stop calling us for support, or expect a $200.00 per hour charge, with a one hour minimum per call.

      Riiiight... see, if you do that, your family might kick you out of the basement. Not that I would know or anything. Nosiree.

      (What, did you think you were good for anything else?)

  8. Lynx by nizo · · Score: 4, Funny

    The only really safe browser! Not so good for browsing porn sites, but since you want to download the images anyway, maybe lynx is good for that too!

    1. Re:Lynx by redJag · · Score: 3, Funny

      Lynx also has an HTML renderer, otherwise you would just see the raw code. Sorry, Lynx is not safe either; better stick with wget.

    2. Re:Lynx by JoshNorton · · Score: 4, Funny
      Not so good for browsing porn sites, but since you want to download the images anyway, maybe lynx is good for that too!

      I only read them for the articles.

      --
      "Stupid! Stupid stupid stupid stupid! I touched the hot wire right there - I'm an idiot!"
  9. Translation for the Layman by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny
    Original: "In the meantime, we have provided customers with prescriptive guidance to help mitigate these issues."

    This translates to a set of instructions for making changes in I.E. settings since the default settings are not terribly good for security. THe MS spokesperson said that a "comprehensive" security pack for I.E. will be out later this summer.

    Translation: After all those horses get out of the way, we'll have your barn door fixed in a jiffy.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  10. Another recommendation ... by orangeguru · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Department of Homeland Security recommends not to use George Bush anymore - because of serious security leaks and erratic behaviour.

  11. don't click on links in IE by mgoss · · Score: 5, Funny

    A support article by Microsoft suggests a solution to the holes in their product, specifically the one where an address can be spoofed and displays a different url than the one you're actually at. Solution: Don't click on links! :)

    "The most effective step that you can take to help protect yourself from malicious hyperlinks is not to click them. Rather, type the URL of your intended destination in the address bar yourself."

  12. Re:Its About time by mike77 · · Score: 5, Funny
    Horray for the Department of Homeland Security!


    I feel so....conflicted.

    They say IE is bad, which is good, but they're big brother which is bad. My brain 'splode now, thank you.

    --

    --Keeping the flame wars alive, one post at a time

  13. Re:Man, this'll be just liek when video games norm by arieswind · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, if you really want to be counter culture, just wait a few months, then start using IE again after the bulk of computer using Americans move over, that will really shock your friends, it can be like a cult

  14. Keep using Internet Explorer! by bubba451 · · Score: 4, Funny

    If we all stop using Internet Explorer, the terrorists have won!

  15. So here's a question... by devphaeton · · Score: 4, Funny

    1) IBM is our friend
    2) Apple is no longer just for coddled sheep
    3) Sun is dying
    4) Sun is embracing linux
    5) Sun is no longer embracing linux
    6) SGI is dying
    7) ???

    8) We might be watching the beginning of the end for Microsoft. Not just in this, but the whole pile of events over the last couple of years. If Microsoft loses relevance, and market share, and withers away...

    Who Is Going To Be The New Evil Empire????

    I want to know who to unconditionally hate next!!

    --


    do() || do_not(); // try();
  16. Re:Its About time by Three+Headed+Man · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm kind of offended. They assume I'm using Windows.

    --
    I'm probably at the karma cap. Mod up a funny troll instead, it lightens the mood :)
  17. Re:Its About time by Artifakt · · Score: 3, Funny

    This just proves the old adage "It's that 90% of politicians that give the other 10% a bad name".

    --
    Who is John Cabal?
  18. Re:I thought... by Loonacy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Even a broken clock shows the right time twice a day.

  19. Re:Serious for MS by Richy_T · · Score: 5, Funny
    Actually, I thought their strategy was "thick customer"

    Rich

  20. Re:If it's broke...well....we'll fix it later by Platinum+Dragon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Repeat after me: Global Class Action Lawsuit against Microsoft. Bunch of bumbling fubars. And that ain't the only whole they haven't plugged in months...

    That last sentence gives me a better idea... forget the lawsuit. Encourage their spouses to deny them until those bugs get fixed.

    Call it Project Lysistrata.

    Uhh... that assumes they have spouses to deny them. If not, distribute their pictures to every singles bar and sweaty-palm dating site, with a "DO NOT TOUCH THIS PERSON." warning.

    If they're not plugging holes now, they certainly won't be plugging holes until the bugs get fixed!*

    * "or get plugged", depending upon gender and orientation. Deny, deny, deny until the bugs are fixed!

    --

    Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
  21. Don't worry! by plj · · Score: 5, Funny

    You just need learn to love the big brother. It may take time, but in the end, you will love him. We will take care of that.

    Now, how many fingers?

    --
    “Wait for Hurd if you want something real” –Linus
  22. Re:If it's broke...well....we'll fix it later by cK-Gunslinger · · Score: 4, Funny


    Well, at least the DoHS didn't recommend cover your Windows with plastic and using duct-tape to seal the cracks this time...

  23. Criticism of MS unfair... by ctid · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's easy to bash Microsoft, but I think we should give credit where it is due. After all, Microsoft has acted very quickly to fix this problem; users who have patched their version of IE can no longer access the Department of Homeland Security's webpage.

    --
    Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
  24. Re:If it's broke...well....we'll fix it later by Richthofen80 · · Score: 5, Funny

    What is a 'Global Class action Lawsuit'? is this when the entire planet sues a company?

    Perhaps Microsoft didn't adhere to Global Law and will face a Global Court. In front of this World Court where juristiction is not in any way ambiguous, microsoft shall be cleansed of all the evil wealth it created and be forced to continue to work for free on open source projects.

    --
    Reason, free market capitalism, and individualism
  25. Re:Man, this'll be just liek when video games norm by Ctrl-Z · · Score: 3, Funny

    And by thier inability to spoell wile doing so.

    --
    www.timcoleman.com is a total waste of your time. Never go there.
  26. Stock Homeland Security Bulletin: Duct Tape! by koa · · Score: 3, Funny

    For immeditate release:

    The Dept. of Homeland Security recommends that if a Web Application requires MS I.E. and you cannot use Mozilla or competitor please follow the following instructions in case of accidentally browsing the Internet with this software:

    1) Cover the Computer (Tower or Desktop) with Plastic.

    2) Place Duct Tape over the window on the Monitor Screen when a Pop-Up or insecure page loads. Once you have closed I.E. and ran virus checks you may contact Homeland security for permission to remove the Duct Tape and resume normal computing operations.

    --
    ....move along....nothing to see here....
  27. Re:Great News by bestguruever · · Score: 3, Funny

    $0, but I plan to double that next year

    --
    if you think this is bad, you should have seen my last sig
  28. Re:If it's broke...well....we'll fix it later by soft_guy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Uhh... that assumes they have spouses to deny them. If not, distribute their pictures to every singles bar and sweaty-palm dating site

    These are Microsoft developers. You'd better be distributing those pictures to all the hookers and massage parlors in and around Seattle.

    --
    Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
  29. Time to uninstall IE! by linebackn · · Score: 3, Funny

    After all these years of preaching that IE is evil, perhaps some people are finally beginning to see the truth (Now that it is biting them on the butt).

    And since this is the almighty Homeland Security, this means that all government agencies should now panic and try to uninstall IE from all of their computers. (Oops, where is that elusive uninstall option? No, not that one, all it does is delete the icon.)

    I guess that also means that anybody who has a site that only works in IE is a terrorist! :)

  30. In related news ... by operagost · · Score: 4, Funny

    The left-wing Slashdot community (that is, 99.8% of Slashdot readers) immediately becomes Internet Explorer advocates in order to avoid being on the same side as the Bush Administration on anything.

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  31. apt-get remove internet_explorer by dr_leviathan · · Score: 3, Funny

    If only IE were included in the debian/stable distribution so I could have the pleasure of uninstalling it.

    --
    Religion is poison to rationality, and we lose sight of that at our own peril. -- Lurker2288
  32. Re:Its About time by tbone1 · · Score: 5, Funny
    • Horray for the Department of Homeland Security!
    I feel so....conflicted.

    I know, it's like watching a fight between an IRS auditor and a PETA employee. You just hope it goes the distance.

    --

    The Independent: Reverend Spooner Arrested in Friar Tuck Incident - ISIHAC, Historical Headlines
  33. Rise of the... by Scott+Richter · · Score: 4, Funny
    4) Profit, or How Mozilla Pays M$ Back for The Whole Killing of Netscape Thing

    It's so great to see Mozilla rising from the smoldering ashes that MS left Netscape in, only to come back and bite MS in the ass. It's so symbolic, they should change Mozilla's name to "Phoenix" or something.

    Huh? Oh. (Gilda Radner on SNL voice....) Nevermind.

  34. Re:Firefox's Gestures by untaken_name · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a whole new paradigm in browsing.

    Perhaps Mozilla can leverage their quality vector above the 60,000 foot level and ramp up their ownership of the browser market whilst operationalizing their solutioning mindshare of the disintermediate, multidisciplinary, proactive, synergistic process.

    What's that? Bingo?

  35. Oh, the irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    I want web designers to follow the W3C standards
    And yet you don't properly open your <rant> tag? For shame!
  36. Here's a fun rule for your server... by CyberGarp · · Score: 3, Funny

    This was pulled from an OS X discussion group:

    <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)cmd.exe(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)root.exe(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)\/_vti_bin\/(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)\/scripts\/\.\.(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)\/_mem_bin\/(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)\/msadc\/(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)\/MSADC\/(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)\/c\/winnt\/(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)\/d\/winnt\/(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    RedirectMatch permanent (.*)\/x90\/(.*)$ http://www.microsoft.com
    </IfModule>

    --

    I used to wonder what was so holy about a silent night, now I have a child.
  37. Re:If it's broke...well....we'll fix it later by Tony-A · · Score: 3, Funny

    How about partials? Have they plugged any partials lately?

    Only partially. (sorry about that;)