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FireFox as a Security Risk Compared to IE?
A not-so anonymous Anonymous Coward asks: "The administrator at my work gave me the following reason for not using Mozilla. What do you think? 'FireFox is a security risk. Please refrain from using it. Please continue to use IE 6.0. IE is our only supported browser. FireFox saves encrypted pages to disk and does not give you override capability. It also does not allow automatic cache clearing when closing a browser. These are security risks.'" Do any of you have information that could be used to contradict the administrators information on FireFox? Are there configuration options one can reach from about:config that a user can use to address the problem this administrator has cited?
Use MSIE and access as many problem pages as you can so that you end up with a system filled with viruses, spyware, adware, popups and everything else until the machine slows to a crawl and then let IT deal with it.
Even Microsoft uses Firefox.
Also in recent news: jumping into a pit of lava is safer than swimming in your friends swimming pool.
Dear slashdot, a friend of mine claims that his dad can beat my dad. Do any of you have information that could be used to contradict my friend's information on my dad, as I can't be bothered to check? Are there any options one can pursue (anabolics, boxing classed etc), that a kid can use to address the problem this friend has cited?
Sounds like the biggest security risk here is the administrator...
The story of my conversation with the BoFH that day is funnier and longer than that actually--I'm sure I wrote some of it down somewhere.
It was funny, not least, because the sysop who made those comments looks like an orangutan--loads of scraggily bright red hair, very large tum, scratches himself constantly, move's with an orangutan's gait.
Although, admittedly, the analogy does fall down when you consider the fact that he is missing one of the most important facets of the species--also they aren't evil and I can genuinely imagine him doing many of the most evil things in the BoFH series. Actually, according to Wikipedia's article:
and I cannot really describe this sysop as the sort who would be cultured (in any sense), have any sense of the rest of society (except maybe "kill...kill...") and defintely not the type to be able to use "feeding tools".Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley
[This post is in the public domain (copyright-free) unless otherwise stated]
IE is not secure. Nor is it more secure than other software.
To compare the security of various packages, do this:
Install a Linux box. Install it with 10 NICs connected to 10 DS-3 connections to the Internet, with static IPs. Use no firewall. Open every port. Install every service. Run everything under 'root'. Serve web pages explaining that you have done this. Provide all of the static IPs and the root password. Offer a reward to anybody who manages to 0wn your box. Pay Google to place ads in its search results to bring people to your site. Go in all the IRC channels and tell everyone.
Install a Windows XP box. Run IE.
My guess is that the box running IE will physically explode within 10 seconds of starting IE. The box running Linux? It will take a day or so for it to get compromised.
Conclusion? IE less secure.