Playing Online Games Can Be Dangerous For Internet Explorer Users
I don’t really know if Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer. It took me a long time to make the switch, mainly because I really don’t like to change things around a lot. Firefox is heavily advertised as being a safe web browser, more so than Internet Explorer.
On Dec. 16th, 2008, I read an article that I found the front page of Yahoo that explained about a major security flaw that was discovered in all versions of Internet Explorer. The flaw is being widely exploited and is being used as a tool to collect the usernames and passwords of user accounts on more than 10,000 online gaming sites.
It is said that only Internet Explorer users run the risk of having their password stolen. Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera all come out clean.
Learning of this situation quickly made me think about bloggers. Could using Internet Explorer create a risk for bloggers to have their usernames and passwords stolen? I was also curious to discover the current standings in the Firefox vs Internet Explorer web browser war.
Doing a simple Google search for “most popular browser” returned a web page from w3school.com titled, Browser Statistics. It has been awhile since I investigated how well Firefox was overtaking the browser market and on this report I learned that Firefox is very close to reaching half of the web browser market. In November of 2008, according to their report, 26.6% of the market used Internet Explorer version 7, 20.0% used Internet Explorer version 6, and lastly 44.2% of the market used Firefox.
Amazingly, Google was able to capture 3% of the market almost over night with Google Chrome, and shockingly, I was surprised to see that 20% of the market still used IE6.
The second thing I wanted to learn about were the demographics of web browser users, specifically with Internet Explorer. Once again, doing a simple Google search for “Internet Explorer Demographics” returned a web page from comScore titled, Firefox vs Internet Explorer. My goal was to try to figure out what kind of people still use Internet Explorer. I suspect that older and inexperienced computer users use Internet Explorer. The report didn’t reveal too much but what it did reveal was that Firefox users are slightly more likely to be male, Firefox users more likely to have annual household incomes of at least $75,000, and Firefox users are significantly younger. That same report stated that Firefox users are early-adopters of Web 2.0 technologies.
Perhaps Firefox is a safer browser to use, but also you might want to consider the type of people who use Firefox compared to Internet Explorer. To me, it seems like most of the people who use Firefox are more aware and conscious of potential security risks. Which if that is the case, perhaps many situations could be avoided by these same people regardless of which web browser they use.
With that said, I still wouldn’t risk it. At a minimum, Internet Explorer is a target for hackers, not only for the known poor track record of getting hacked many times in the past but also for the known demographics of the type of people who use the web browser. My advice would be to play it safe and make the switch.
Switching from Internet Explorer to Firefox is pretty seamless. Most people I talk to in instant messenger and email commonly say that they haven’t made the switch because they have an extensive collection of favorites. Firefox includes a very handy import feature that allows Internet Explorer users to import their favorites, saved passwords and web history.
For me, I am officially a full time Google Chrome user. The browser is very fast and extremely safe and stable, it offers full import features, and one of the best features is that each tab is separate from another. Meaning if you are playing an online game in one tab and it crashes, the crash is isolated to just that tab and not the others. You can safely close the crashed tab while not having to shut down your entire web browser.
One additional thing to consider for bloggers who are making money online is the fact that you store many more usernames and passwords than other Internet users or bloggers. Bloggers who make money online have multiple accounts online that have very personal information. Imagine what would happen if a hacker got your username and password for your Google AdSense, PepperjamNETWORK, or ClickBank account.
What can you add to this discussion? Are you still using Internet Explorer? How long have you been using Firefox? If you are using Firefox, what made you finally make the switch?
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16 comments
Personally, I am a dedicated Firefox user. I’ve tried Google Chrome, but for me, at least at this stage, it doesn’t have enough add-ons for my liking. As far as a browser being able to obtain user passwords and such, I suppose that it is done via keystrokes. If this is so I wonder if those programs that record names and passwords, so that all you do is click and paste, would prevent hackers from accessing that information from your computer?
Ever since I made the switch back to Apple from PC 2.5 years ago I split my internet time between Firefox and Safari. I use Firefox for all of my password protected sites like internet banking and I use Safari for my day to day internet surfing. I like to reset my Safari browser every couple days to clear the history, cache, cookies, etc just to clean things up. Whether it does something or not, I have no idea. I have hundreds of bookmarks in safari and only a few on Firefox. My main reason for this is I don’t want to clutter my Firefox browser with my interest of the day or week.
I feel like the combination of my MacBook Pro and Firefox makes me less likely to have security issues, but who knows for sure.
I usually use the least popular and more secure web browsers because hackers won’t spend time finding flaws in that browser.
Perhaps too it may be the bits and bytes being transfered over the connection that can get infiltrated. Recording keystrokes is one way for sure, but also is the possibility collection information being transmitted. Kind of like a phone being tapped I guess.
Hi Scott!
Have you considered using web based bookmarks such as Google Bookmarks or even http://www.me.com/mail/
Yes! and that brings up a good discussion too!
Is Mac OS really more secure than Windows Vista? Is Firefox really more secure the Internet Explorer? Etc…
Or, is everything really about the same, but now we have “supply and demand” meaning, more people use Vista over Mac and therefore more hackers have an interest in Vista. Same goes with IE.
What would things be like if the tables were turned? How would Mac and even Firefox hold up against the high volume of attacks currently subjected to their rival competitors?
That is true but when entering the password the program allows you to enter asterisks instead of letters, so when they intercept your password are they able to decipher the asterisks? Just a thought.
[...] Do you know that Firefox , compared to IE is a safer browser to use and that most of the people who use Firefox are more aware and conscious of potential security risks. Find out more what Garry Conn has written in Playing Online Games Can Be Dangerous for IE Users. [...]
Hey Garry
I’ve been a Firefox user for sometime. I’m on mac, but whenever I use a PC I end up putting it on. Infact its usually one of the first things I do. Did have a play with chrome on the PC. It was pretty fast. Not sure it’s available for mac though.
As to security. I think that maybe Firefox is more secure because it seems to be constantly developed by a dedicated team as opposed to IE. Just my guess though. And of course Microsoft is always going to be a target for hackers just from the being Microsoft.
I’m sure Apple will get to point where hackers start target them, but it’s market share surely? There are simply more Windows machines out there so they’re easier to target.
Charles,
Which web browser do you you then? It would be interesting to know of other alternatives. I did use to use Oprah, but haven’t for some years. Not sure why really. Was pretty good from what I remember.
It took me a long while to switch to FF also; now i use it almost exclusively, although it has little to do with security.
Btw, download IE updates if you haven’t yet. They issued a fix recently.
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I switched to Firefox over 1 1/2 years ago and will never go back. No more pop-ups, no more nonesense, just a great browser. Too bad the giant Microsoft can make something as good as this.
I have been following your blog, and I love it. I have not updated to IE7, so I guess I am still in the dark ages. But when Google Chrome was launched, I jumped on the band wagon, and have not looked back. One of my problems with FireFox, was that it is turning into a hog ,for me anyway. It is very slow to load, and I find that since using Google’s new browser, my surfing has been fast, and reliable. I have Vista, and of course is it crap. Always freezing up,slow,fustrating,and when it does crash, I have to close out the browser, and start over again. Google Chrome is the bomb, if there is a problem with a web page, all I have to do is close the tab, and all recent windows, are not affected. It’s not flashy, but is a breath of fresh air.
My husband and I just switched to chrome and his concerns was the same as some people who have recently made the switch to chrome, internet explorer 6 are no longer a safe route for us because we do everything on it, example online banking, so for us we were told there are security ricks, and overall I think who you use for your browser you still have to be careful and check your important accounts on a regular basis just to be safe, we not living in a world where nothing is ever unhackable so be wise and be safe. good luck to everyone.
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I use both Firefox and Chrome.. Firefox use lots of RAM in my computer, so if you open lots of tab my computer can become so slow. So if I want to do simple browsing, I just use Chrome. Why I don't leave FF is mainly because there are too much plugin that I need if I'm working that can only available at FF.
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