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| Microsoft Claims Firefox Less Secure Because Of Frequent Updates |
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 In what we feel is an egregious example of backward thinking, Microsoft's Security Strategy Director Jeff Jones claims in a rather controversial whitepaper that frequent security updates make Firefox more susceptible to exploits. From his Technet blog , Jeff writes... "Over the past few years, there has been much discussion of the need for improvements in browser security, but few hard data studies performed to support assertions concerning the security of available browsers." In his white paper he examines exploit severity, version to version trends, and forms an overall analysis of how each browser is performing relative to existing exploits in a three year cycle. In our opinion, the main flaws in his analysis are the following. To say merely that frequent updates are a root cause is a bit naive and self serving. From this, one would logically assume that less frequent updates to antivirus software would also be beneficial. Also, there's one huge flaw in the comparison. The fact that IE cannot be easily uninstalled, or easily fixed when it *is* exploited. When trouble does strike Internet Explorer, it oftentimes becomes an exercise in futility to repair it. Third party browsers like Firefox and Opera can simply be uninstalled, their folders erased, and their registry entries cleaned. This single fact makes an apples-to-apples comparison somewhat meaningless from a risk standpoint. As Firefox 2.0's popularity has grown, especially in the last year, it is pretty obvious that Mozilla has had to be more proactive with security. With popularity comes the natural risk of becoming a more enticing target for vulnerabilities. We feel, on balance, that frequent updates along with Firefox's built in automatic updating system are wise moves for a browser trying to survive the modern Internet. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           
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