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There Is No Safe Web Browser
Michael writes "David Sheets has up an interesting article on browser security, and I have to agree with his conclusion: no web browser is safe. The article details the recent Netscape fiasco, and touches on the whole Firefox/Internet Explorer debate. From the article: 'So if it sounds as if we're all at the mercy of hackers just looking for some new challenge, that's partially true. As law enforcement officers will tell you, crime finds you if it wants you bad enough, no matter what preventative measures you take. But the vast majority of criminals have an Achilles' heel: They prefer convenience to challenge. For now, it's more convenient for them to pick on Internet Explorer.'"
As is telnetting to port 80 and interpreting the HTML in your head.
I'd say this one is fairly safe...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Perhaps it needed to be said, but it seems to me like this post is a statement of the obvious.
I'm sure I'll be modded down for just posting my blunt thoughts in responst to the post.
Don't forget to wear a condom for safe browsing...
Only a sith lord deals in absolutes. I will do what I must.
A "manual" web browser is safe. That is, you print out and manually inspect all the data being transmitted, including all the HTTP headers and the what not. That way, if you see anything fishy, just burn the print out :)
Yeah, it's really hard to animate the flash stuff and streaming media though. Brings a whole new meaning to dropping frames.
Actually, it's more secure if you travel to the server where the information is stored, remove the hard drive, and perform forensics on it to determine what the data you are seeking is.
I design user interfaces for a free network management application,
There is not "absolutely, 100% safe from everyone" not safe and then there is "dropped the soap in the prison shower" not safe. While even Linux and Mac OS X fall into the first, Windows falls into the second. Windows is unsafe due to the lack of planning or safety concerns of the programmers. Programmers told by the marketting department to spend their time on features above all other things.
I can't speak for Linux users as I am not one, but I can speak for some Mac users. We don't ignore the bugs, hacks and patches out there. I keep my system fully patched at all times, just as I dio my Windows boxes. The difference here is that my Mac has never had a spyware infestation, nor a virus, nor any of the other intrusive attacks that my Windows machine has suffered through. And I'm careful with my Windows machine.
Windows has gotten safer as MS has finally deigned to pay attention to safety concerns. But a fresh Windows install is as unsafe as a child molester in a maximum security prison. A significant number of patches and extra utilities need to be installed, many of them only practically available from the Internet, before it is reasonably safe to connect that computer to the Internet. This is not true for Linux and OS X bioxes.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
No program that accepts input is safe. /dev/null is holding up fine.
SCO employee? Check out the bounty
Microsoft agree upon some standards... it just happens that those standards disagree with other people's standards... :)
I telnetted to port 80 once, and interpreted the HTML in my head.
Unfortunately there was a infinitely recursive Java script function on there.
I'm still not quite myself.
The Internet is full. Go Away!!!
What about lynx?
I wondered that immediately, we're prolly in redundant territory, but I'd like a response on this.
Any l33t lynx crackers got some sploits on it saved for a rainy day?
("they all trust lynx, I'll pwn them all, hahahaha!")
Someone set us up the bomb, so shine we are!