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Microsoft to Issue Out-of-Cycle Patch for IE
rsw writes "Microsoft will be breaking their normal patch cycle and issuing a patch for the Download.Ject attack (a.k.a. Scob). They claim that the forthcoming patch will be a "long-term solution to the core vulnerability" exploited by Scob." Note that this does not mean that they are replacing IE with FireFox.
Seems as though all of the exploits coming out against IE has finally got to them. I've counted about 5+ just from the Full Disclosure and BugTraq mailing lists in the past few weeks. All of them different in nature of thier attacks.
Hmmm.
Note that this does not mean that they are replacing IE with FireFox.
Good, cause firefox has render problems on slashdot all the time (where as IE doesn't). I don't think its firefox, either, cause it doesn't happen on any other site I go to.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
and if they do why?
/. thread about it
I mannaged to get my work to use fireFox after showing them a
All spelling mistakes are due to solar flares...honest
...the most finiky of users, my Mom, to Firefox without her even knowing it. Now if Dad would stop playing Solitaire long enough for me to get at his computer then I'd de-IE him as well.
Rightly or not, that Homeland Defense notice got some peeps in senior management a little spooked and asked our IT department to start making Firefox the default browser on all new systems they set up for employees.
As a long-time Mozilla and Firefox user, I couldn't be happier. Whether it's the right reason or not, I couldn't care -- at least there's a hint at the IE domination trend slowing down a bit, and that is good for consumers.
Not strictly true.
The development of TCP/IP allowed the ARPANet to happen (which later became the Internet follwing commercialisation in the late 80s).
UNIX-based servers formed the core of the ARPANet because TCP/IP has always been built into UNIX and UNIX was designed as a multi-user multi-platform network operating system.
Microsoft assumed that the world would use their poor quality NetBIOS/LanManager protocols until the early 90s when they were forced to include TCP/IP support into Windows - that was after they almost ruined Novell by worming their way into using IPX/SPX networking protocols.
In other words, a kludgy operating system had to be kludged even more to support TCP/IP. This is a legacy that has lived with MS since and while the support of TCP/IP has improved over the various Windows iterations, the fact is that the Windows architecture is not as suitable for Internet connectivity as UNIX.
Everything in UNIX is designed for simplicity - one program doing one task. If you need a network service, just turn it on - if you don't, turn it off.
Where UNIX has a weakness is the security model because, in ARPANet days, information was open and there was no need to secure servers. However, that has improved a thousandfold over the years with features like shadow passwords, better authentication models and secure protocols. The simplistic security model of "you, those you trust and the rest of the world" now works to it's advantage because it's very easy to apply to a system - the difficult part is knowing all the potential holes to apply it to that can only come from experience.
If Windows was not an Internet OS today, we would still have crackers and security exploits on UNIX. However, there would be less of it because fewer crackers would be clever enough to break into a UNIX system and whilst there might be the occasional worm program, email viruses simple would not exist.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.