Re: Microsoft Browser Under Scrutiny

Tech-Archive recommends: Fix windows errors by optimizing your registry

From: ThePainter (anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 07/03/04 

Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2004 14:02:14 -0700

I have just moved to "Enigma" browser, it is very small
and fast and free, it opens web page more than twice as
fast as IE6, Ive tested it. It also has blockers and
filters for alsorts of web based scripts.It has tabbed
pages and can be a good file browser aswell.
If you decide to try it and have trouble accessing a page
then goto Tools > Download Control here you will find all
the blockers and filters, it is probably blocking
something just unclick a filter to disable it, untick
them all and its just like IE6.
It does everything IE6 does and more and faster and safer
and more stable.

>-----Original Message-----
>What You Should Know About Download.Ject
>http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/download_ject.
mspx
>
>Important:
>
>Users of Windows XP Service Pack 2 Release Candidate 2
>(Windows XP SP2 RC2) are not at risk.
>
>--
>Carey Frisch
>Microsoft MVP
>Windows XP - Shell/User
>
>Be Smart! Protect your PC!
>http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
>
>---------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
>
>"Tom" no-way@not-here.com wrote in message:
> news:%23JHJenTYEHA.384@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>
>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/03/tech/main627407
.shtml
>
>
>
>NEW YORK, July 2, 2004
>
>(AP) It's been a bad week for many users of Microsoft
Corp.'s nearly ubiquitous Internet Explorer browser.
>
>A pair of virus attacks exploiting its vulnerabilities
had led security experts to recommend that Web surfers
>consider such alternatives as Mozilla and Opera.
>
>Until Microsoft made a software update available Friday,
continuing to use Internet Explorer was "like playing
>the lottery," said Johannes B. Ullrich, chief technology
officer of the nonprofit SANS Internet Security
>Center.
>
>The respected research center was among security groups
recommending other browsers as long as a key
>vulnerability in IE remained unfixed, leaving it capable
of running malicious code that's been hidden at a
>number of popular Web sites.
>
>It took a week for Microsoft to issue the update, which
does not fix the flaw entirely but disables a hacker's
>ability to deliver malicious code with it. Ullrich said
the update appeared to eliminate any immediate need to
>switch browsers, which can cause problems of its own.
>
>The flaw had allowed a computer virus to spread through
a new technique that converted popular Web sites into
>virus transmitters. That infection was designed to steal
valuable information as Web users typed it into their
>computers ? passwords and the like.
>
>And this week, researchers discovered another password-
stealing program hidden behind pop-up ads. A repair for
>the flaw enabling that Trojan infection was issued in
April, many users had yet to patch their systems.
>
>IE is a frequent target for hacking because of its
popularity; WebSideStory Inc. says 95 percent of surfers
>use it globally. The browser is closely integrated with
Microsoft's Windows operating system and Outlook
>e-mail program, creating more room for programming error
and making solutions more difficult.
>
>Though many of IE's functions are not unique, IE tends
to be more permissive in running code ? flexibility
>that helps Web developers create fancy features but
allows hackers to more easily find weaknesses.
>
>A major Windows XP upgrade, known as a service pack, is
due out this summer and would plugs some holes in IE.
>Last week's outbreak would not have occurred had those
software plugs been installed, said Gary Schare, a
>Microsoft security director.
>
>Microsoft also is developing a specific fix for the new
vulnerability, but Schare said testing takes time. He
>called it premature for independent security experts to
recommend that people explore alternatives.
>
>Even if those recommendations were heeded, it's highly
unlikely Microsoft could be unseated as top dog in the
>browser business. After all, IE comes with Windows
computers. The Justice Department, after initially suing
to
>force Microsoft to uncouple the browser from its
operating systems, later backed down.
>
>Many users don't care enough or know how to find other
browsers, most of which are free or ad-supported. Opera
>Software ASA, which offers the No. 3 browser for
Windows, saw no significant change in downloads this
week.
>Downloads of Mozilla doubled, but the increase is not
nearly enough to significantly change its market share.
>
>"It's not that consumers are so loyal to Microsoft, but
more they are apathetic," said Geoff Johnston, an
>analyst with WebSideStory, which tracks browser
usage. "With it, there really is a cost to switching."
>
>Users who install alternatives will find that some Web
sites simply won't work. Movielink LLC says its online
>movies need technology specific to IE, and America
Online Inc. shuns its own Mozilla-based Netscape browsers
>for new conferencing tools.
>
>Browser-integrated toolbars from search leader Google
Inc. and others are only available for Internet
>Explorer.
>
>Many sites work on alternatives but display items
incorrectly, often because developers fail to test on
them.
>
>"All they know is it looks good to them ... on their own
browser, and their own browser is most probably
>Internet Explorer," said Jakob Nielsen, a Web design
expert with Nielsen Norman Group.
>
>Ken Godskind, vice president of marketing at the
Internet monitoring firm AlertSite, uses the Mozilla
browser
>partly because of security concerns, but he accepts
having to run IE now and then.
>
>"Rarely are you going to go someplace where you're going
to avoid Microsoft technology," he said.
>
>But sites have gotten better about designing for other
browsers, said Porter Glendinning, an Internet
>consultant who promotes adherence to Web standards.
Until recently, he said, banking applications rarely
>worked on anything else.
>
>And leading Web application developers, including Opera,
Apple Computer Inc. and Macromedia Inc., are
>collaborating on better plug-in technology to rival
Microsoft's.
>
>Opera's Christen Krogh said users would get the same
functionality no matter their browser.
>
>Mark Rasch, chief security counsel for Solutionary Inc.,
favors alternatives "if for no reason other than to
>create heterogeneity," which dulls the impact of any
single virus attack.
>
>But alternatives can become targets, too, as more people
use them, said Chris Kraft, senior security analyst
>at Sophos Inc.
>
>A better solution is to reconsider whether browsers
ought to have evolved into Swiss Army knives of the
>Internet ? a development that can, and has, backfired on
users.
>
>These Web browsers have advanced over time to be
extremely rich in terms of content, how they deliver
>content," Kraft said. "What's the compromise between a
rich experience and creating a toolbox for the general
>malicious community?"
>
>.
>

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