[AquaticLife] OT - Computer problems - IE freezing up???
Lenny,
Latest guesstimates of IE usage show less than 70% use IE.
To all,
Keep in mind that all browsers have security issues. All software ha security issues. It is just that plain and simple.
Please note two things when reading the articles Lenny has posted links to. First, as above, Firefox is not immune to issues. It has them, as does everything. Firefox programmers, however, act with more rapidity than most, and with blinding speed compared to some, and the updates/patches are pushed out to users, rather than the users needing to use another program to get updates/patches. Second, many of the issues found thus far in Firefox have little chance of being exploited, and many are not even really exploitable without the complicit assent of the user.
Practicing safe browsing is your best defense. Do not go to sires sent to you by persons unknown to you. Be wary of sites friends send to you. Keep your machine patched with the latest patch releases. Ensure that your security program(s) have the latest updates.
\Steve//
> —–Original Message—– > From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of > Lenny V. aka GoldLenny > Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 3:00 PM > To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com > Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] OT - Computer problems - IE freezing up??? > > I did not start this thread to get into a debate about IE vs. FF vs. Safari > vs. Chrome vs. all the other browsers… but somehow I knew an FF user would > be first to jump in since most of the FF users really like that FF > Kool-Aid.. btw… what’s your favorite flavor? > > I mainly offered this OT post here since this is a Yahoo Group and Yahoo > Group web pages have lots of Flash ads and Adobe Flash 9 & 10 IE add-ons are > causing many people to have IE freeze up problems so I wanted to offer a > simple and free solution for folks while surfing through their Yahoo > Groups… with the most popular and commonly used browser, Internet > Explorer. > > David, please do not be lulled into a false sense of security with Firefox > and do not promote it without also warning people that it will not fix their > computer security issues if they do not also have basic computer security > protocols in place.. but then, if they had them, IE wouldn’t be a security > problem. It’s comparable to putting burglar bars on your windows (no pun > intended) while leaving your doors wide open… not a whole lot of security > in that set up. Read further down for a few articles elaborating on these > known FF issues and why basic computer security is needed regardless of > which browser you choose to use. A few years from now, you may be the first > reply in a forum thread about FF, saying how you solved all your FF problems > by switching to Chrome. A few years after that… whatever the browser du > jour happens to be. > > While you, personally, may have solved your IE problems (I don’t even know > what yours were and they likely could have been solved with a few IE options > adjustments… the same kind that FF users have to do), you probably did not > solve your computer security issues by just installing FF. As FF becomes > more popular, the hackers will start spending more time attacking it’s users > so please keep your firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware security in place, > updated and running. > > Right now, IE is used by more than 70% of internet users and Firefox by only > 20%, so the hackers spend most of their warped-mindset and resources going > after IE but Firefox has many, many, many security issues with their > browser. People who do not practice basic computer security and think that > by switching to FF, it will solve their problems, instead of fixing the root > problem (the user) will only find themselves even further infected. > > I often have to help friends whose computers are infested and they don’t > understand why since they were using Firefox and someone told them it was > safe. While it might be a little safer (right now), mainly because hackers > aren’t wasting as much of their time attacking it, it is not completely > safe… and as more users start using it, hackers will begin to spend even > more and more of their time hacking Firefox. > > Technically, Firefox lovers would be better off if they would quit promoting > it so much. As it gains in market share, it becomes a much bigger target > for the criminals/hackers out there. I’ve used IE for years and years and > have never seen the need to use an alternative browser… mainly because I > do practice good computer security. I rarely find more than a tracking > cookie in any of my security scans. I have looked at other browsers over > the years but I just don’t see where they are any better than IE as far as > surfing goes. Of course, FF is able to lead off with some newer features > quicker than IE because, in the past, they had such a small user base so > their Beta testing was a much quicker process compared to new features in IE > that have to be tested to make sure they are compatible with the multitudes > of computers that use IE. As the FF user base grows, their Beta tests for > new features will become longer and more time consuming for Mozilla. > > Here’s a PCMag.com article… “Firefox 3.0.1 Fixes Security Issues” 7/18/08 > http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2325993,00.asp > (START SNIP) > The Mozilla Foundation on Friday released an update to the company’s > heralded new web browser, version 3.0.1, with fixes for security, stability, > a printing issue, and problems involving running Firefox 2 simultaneously. > > The most critical security fixes address a problem whereby an attacker could > run code and install software, while requiring no user interaction beyond > normal browsing. Other problems included the malware database not updating > on first launch, and the SSL certificate exception list not being properly > saved. > > The update also dealt with crashes using malformed GIF files on Mac OS X, > command-line URLs that launch multiple tabs when Firefox is not running, and > remote code execution by overflowing the CSS reference counter. > (END SNIP) > > Mozilla even publishes their own list as the issues become known. > http://www.mozilla.org/security/known-vulnerabilities/ > > Here are the FIVE security updates they had to do just in the past two > months… November and December, 2008… > http://www.mozilla.org/security/ > (START SNIP) > Security Update (December 30, 2008): A security update has been issued for > Thunderbird that fixes multiple security vulnerabilities. All users should > install this update as soon as possible. > > Thunderbird 2.0.0.19 release notes > Security Update (December 18, 2008): The Windows version of Firefox 2.0.0.19 > was missing the fix for MFSA 2008-65. We have re-released this as Firefox > 2.0.0.20 which now correctly contains the fix. > > Firefox 2.0.0.20 release notes > Security Update (December 16, 2008): Security updates have been issued for > Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 that fix critical security vulnerabilities. All > users should install these updates as soon as possible. > > Firefox 3.0.5 release notes > Firefox 2.0.0.19 release notes > Security Update (November 19, 2008): A security update has been issued for > Thunderbird that fixes multiple security vulnerabilities. All users should > install this update as soon as possible. > > Thunderbird 2.0.0.18 release notes > Security Update (November 12, 2008): Security updates have been issued for > Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 that fix critical security vulnerabilities. All > users should install these updates as soon as possible. > > Firefox 3.0.4 release notes > Firefox 2.0.0.18 release notes > (END SNIP) > > Same warnings above goes for Mac’s OS and Safari browser users. Here’s a > snip from an article that basically says the same thing as me about market > share being a big factor in security. > > http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/secu/article.php/3698606 > (START SNIP) > . Lower profile target. One of the main reasons I’m more willing to trust my > data security to my OS X (Mac) system is that they have a smaller market > share than Windows does. This sounds peculiar to many people who aren’t > familiar with security, but in the dangerous world that is the Internet, > keeping a low profile can be an important aspect of staying secure. > > The reason for this, quite simply, is that our attackers, by and large, > write their attack code to market share, for all the same reasons that > legitimate software developers most often deliver their Windows products > before their Mac or Linux ones. > > Now, I’m fully aware that Firefox continues to make strides in this area and > is constantly gaining market share, so this argument may well eventually > fail. I’m confident, though, that by then I’ll have other, lower profile > choices available. > > For now, finding a balance between unpopular and popular enough to be widely > supported on the web sites I frequent is very much a security consideration. > Today, that nod goes to Firefox for my needs. It’s very rare that I can’t > use Firefox on sites that I care about. > (END SNIP) > > BTW… Mac’s also suffer from many security issues and Windows Vista > Ultimate actually beat the Mac’s OSX in a well known hacker contest in the > middle of 2008. Linux was the most secure OS of the three… that market > share thing popping up again. 
> > Lenny Vasbinder > Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com > (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right > side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month) > > > —–Original Message—– > From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com] On > Behalf Of David Keymel > Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 12:24 PM > To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com > Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] OT - Computer problems - IE freezing up??? > > I solved all my IE problems about 3 years ago by using firefox. the only > sites you really need IE for these days are some specific work applications > that are web based and Microsofts Portals for different things such as MSDN. > no reason not to switch. IE is a back door for problems. You could also try > googles browser chrome > > On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 1:07 PM, Lenny V. aka GoldLenny > wrote: > > I know we recently had a couple of members with computer problems that > > were chatted about out here. While helping out a member in another > > computer help forum, I inadvertently led them to a fix for Internet > > Explorer freeze up issues that have been causing problems for many > > surfers. I’ve even been having them the past month since I updated to > > Flash 10 which is why I have been doing my own research on the issue. > > > > Many (probably most) of these IE freeze ups are being caused by Adobe > > Flash > > 9 and/or 10 so while explaining this and giving them more reading to > > do, from my own research, they actually posted back to me and directed > > me to something I had missed in my readings… a simple little IE > > add-on called Toggle Flash http://flash.melameth.com which turns off > > Adobe Flash in IE when you are doing surfing and then if you come > > across a site that absolutely has to have Adobe Flash turned on > > (YouTube for example), you just click the Toggle Flash button, hit the > > refresh button and that page will work fine. After you are done with > > your YouTubing, click the Toggle Flash button again and the Flash > > add-on is turned back off in IE so you’re good to go with your surfing. > > > > More detailed info on my non-fish blog at > > http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com > > (it’s currently the top blog) or > > > http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2009/01/toggle-flash-very-good-and-si mple > -and.html > > > > BTW.. this is a FREE and very simple add-on so it uses no system > > resources and it will stop all of the flash-y ads that show up on many > > websites, including Yahoo and Yahoo Groups pages… if you do lots of > > reading on Yahoo pages, so that makes for easier and faster surfing as > well. > > > > Lenny Vasbinder > > Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com (Links to any articles > > referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically > > under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month) > > > > > >
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
