Firefox rated most vulnerable web browser

[nekrosoft13]

In a report that will surely start internet fires all over the world Secunia is reporting that Firefox is the most vulnerable web browser that is widely adopted on the market today.

"This year, Secunia published advisories for the four most widely used web browsers: Internet Explorer (IE), Safari, Opera, and Mozilla Firefox. 31 vulnerabilities were reported for Internet Explorer (IE 5.x, 6.x, and 7), including those publicly disclosed prior to vendor patch as well as those included in Microsoft Security Bulletins. Safari and Opera each had 32 and 30 vulnerabilities, whereas 115 vulnerabilities were registered for Firefox in 2008."

http://www.neowin.net/images/uploaded/chart.JPG

The vulnerabilities measures areas of a browser that requires a patch to fix a hole that could be exploited by a malicious user to take sensitive data from the end user.

It's an interesting contrast to the idea that people assumed that Firefox was the most web secure browser. According to this review Opera appears to be the safest but Microsoft and Apple's web browsers are not far behind.

Does this mean that you should switch your browser out of fear? Not so, the study does leave out the human element that the best defense is an educated user. If you are aware of what you are doing online and don't download bonzi buddy you are one step closer to a safer web experience.

http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/04/15/firefox-rated-most-vulnerable-web-browser

[|MaguS|]

rofl

Can't wait to see the responses from the IE haters. :p

[crainger]

I'm not surprised, it gets it's secure image because spyware simply doesn't work with it... Like Linux.

I'm surprised Safari is there low though... What about Chrome too?

[Butter Bandit]

rofl

Can't wait to see the responses from the IE haters. :p

I've always preferred IE to Firefox. I never understood why so many people worshiped Firefox while talking **** about IE...it isn't like Microsoft charges you to use IE, it's free.

[Rakeesh]

This is over a year ago, but tbh if you use noscript you've pretty much killed the possibility for 99.99% of the potential vulnerabilities out there. I only whitelist scripts for sites that I know to be trustworthy, meanwhile clickjacking and cross site scripting vulnerabilities are non existent so compromised sites won't really do any harm to you.

[six_storm]

FF > IE

[Q]

FF Vulnerabilities> IE Vulnerabilities

Fixed.

:p


I use Firefox too, but the whole security argument for the browser lost much of its muster when IE7 came out.

[Sazar]

FF > IE

In terms of instability, undoubtedly.

It has it's place but it's not the best browser on the market. Chrome and Opera are both superior in speed and memory and crash far less than FF. Also, IE8 is a pretty nifty piece of work. In terms of sheer simplicity, I have a feeling Chrome will eventually catch on as one of the browsers of choice. It just works and it is pretty fast as well.

[thor1182]

I think FF got most of its support for:

1. it was free
2. Tabs
3. Plugins (a big part of the stability issues)
4. Until IE8, IE's standards compliance was God awful at best.

[jcrox]

I've always preferred IE to Firefox. I never understood why so many people worshiped Firefox while talking **** about IE...it isn't like Microsoft charges you to use IE, it's free.

Lots of web developers like Firefox because of the add-ons.

[Sazar]

I think FF got most of its support for:

1. it was free
2. Tabs
3. Plugins (a big part of the stability issues)
4. Until IE8, IE's standards compliance was God awful at best.

I like the extensions but I also hate them. I am moving further and further away from extensions personally as it just kills the experience for me (see my current preference for Chrome).

The tabs in IE7 and 8 are still superior to FF (stock) and most of the extensions for tabs.

Wrt standards, all the sites I went to worked just fine in all the browsers I use. And all the browsers I use are also free.

-edit-

I have 2 IE browser open with about 11 tabs open across the 2. Been running since about 7:45 AM CST, no crashes or issues.

I have 1 FF browser with 2 tabs that has crashed 4 times today, so far.

[Eliminator]

once you get firefox + adblock with ad subscriptions its like a whole new internet

[Dreamweavernoob]

personally ive noticed firefox crashing alot more.


an odd bug is that everytime i log onto paypal it crashes, then tells me to restart. upon restarting it works :wtf:

[zoomy942]

i use I8 in Windows 7 becasue i really enjoy the tab preview feature in the taskbar

[Medion]

I still use FF. I think the big thing for me is that I put my favorites in folders. So, click one of the folders on the favorites bar, and mouse over to the right. It carries the dropdown over. In IE and Chrome, I have to manually click each folder as I move over. Same with the menu bar. It's a minor inconvenience, but it's a deal break for me.

As for speed, the difference is so small that it hardly matters. Adblock Plus is excellent, but IE7Pro does a similar thing for IE, so only Chrome is behind in that regard. Adblocking is important to me because some of those damn ads have sound, and they piss me off.

But once IE7Pro is updated to natively support IE8, I'll probably make the switch back to IE.

[CaptNKILL]

I use FF and I don't get viruses or spyware.

So... meh... :p

[supra]

Lots of web developers like Firefox because of the add-ons.

being a developer myself. yes.

and because firefox uses w3c standards for layout while microsoft sorta uses its own standards.

i always code my websites on firefox 1st and then code in tweaks/hacks to make it look the same on IE.

[Shamrock]

They forget to add, that IE vulnerabilities are fixed in 2 months, FF fixes them within 48 hours.

[mullet]

once you get firefox + adblock with ad subscriptions its like a whole new internet

+1

I use FF and I don't get viruses or spyware.

So... meh... :p

+1

[thor1182]

being a developer myself. yes.

and because firefox uses w3c standards for layout while microsoft sorta uses its own standards.

i always code my websites on firefox 1st and then code in tweaks/hacks to make it look the same on IE.

this

[lightman]

being a developer myself. yes.

and because firefox uses w3c standards for layout while microsoft sorta uses its own standards.

i always code my websites on firefox 1st and then code in tweaks/hacks to make it look the same on IE.

Ditto.

They forget to add, that IE vulnerabilities are fixed in 2 months, FF fixes them within 48 hours.

And this one, too.

[ViN86]

i still use FF for some things and i still like some extensions. but i have moved to IE8. i like the interface and the feature set.

[Absolution]

They forget to add, that IE vulnerabilities are fixed in 2 months, FF fixes them within 48 hours.

Actually its every Tuesday or earlier dependig on the severity.

I've always said FF was less secure than IE7, Chrome undoubtably has the most security flaws in it, but since it's market share is so low, people won't bother to exploit them as much.

I really like browser competition for security, mainly because it means there are people trying to find exploitable code in browsers other than your own.


Most people who use FF use something like noscript though, making their browsing much more secure.


And wow, java, you suck with security.

[Yaboze]

If you used that modifed hosts file (EDIT: Site below) and use IE, every single ad is blocked, just like adblock on FF.

It lists every ad site known and points them to 127.0.0.0.

Check here guys:

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Use that with IE 8 and it's golden.

[hell_of_doom227]

I said and i am still saying that Firefox is utter crap.