Internet Explorer - Security Threat

[calibrated]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/155585/micr...tch_for_ie.html

Microsoft will issue an emergency security patch Wednesday for all versions of Internet Explorer. The patch is considered a critical fix for the security flaw currently plaguing the IE browser. So far, more than 2 million computers are believed to have been infected.

Vulnerability Protection

An advance notification of the patch published Tuesday describes it as protection for a "remote code execution" vulnerability. The move follows Microsoft's security advisory posted last Wednesday and updated Monday explaining the vulnerability and suggesting temporary "workarounds" for protection.

Serious Flaw

The flaw can be used to let attackers steal personal data such as passwords if a user visits a compromised Web site, of which at least 10,000 are thought to already exist. Thus far, the vulnerability has been used primarily for grabbing gaming passwords for black market sales. The hole could, however, potentially also be used to steal more sensitive information such as banking passwords and other private information.

Some security analysts had gone as far as to suggest all IE users switch to a competing browser until Microsoft found a suitable fix.

Getting the Patch

Microsoft's emergency security patch will become available Wednesday at 1 p.m. EST at the Microsoft Update site as well as at the Microsoft Download Center. All users of IE5, 6, and 7 are advised to install it. A separate patch is expected to be made available for users of IE8 Beta 2. Expect to see far more detail by midday Wednesday when Microsoft officially issues its security bulletin.

no, this is not a hoax.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/...ory/961051.mspx

[Jordy]

I heard about this on CNN last night. All the experts are saying do not use Explorer till the patch comes out. Of microsoft said, "No use explorer but put your security on maximum level"

FF all the way!

[calibrated]

I heard about this on CNN last night. All the experts are saying do not use Explorer till the patch comes out. Of microsoft said, "No use explorer but put your security on maximum level"

FF all the way!

as if all the experts use IE anyway

FF FTW

[Bob]

The only real way to stop all this stuff is to change to a Mac.

I surfed the web and got all my emails for 10 years on PCs.

I had dramas all the time!

My PC computers were round a mate's place often getting "fixed".

I got sick of it in the end.

I got an Apple Mac.

I have never looked back. It just keeps going . . . . no dramas.

After persisting with PCs . . . . and against all the advice of my mates (who haven't had much to do with Macs, by the way!) . . . . I now totally recommend Macs for hassle free performance.

My mates, by the way, are still having dramas (like this warning!) with their PCs.

You guys can keep on struggling with your PCs, but it's a bit like South Africa today. . . . . . . if you insist on remaining with it, don't complain.

PCs and Microsoft are high maintenance.

[calibrated]

no. just. no.

go ahead, and pay double what the components are really worth, and be able to do half of what a pc can do. with so much stuffing around to get software to work (if even available on mac)

unless you are in media (film/television/photography/etc). there is NO need to have a mac.

[Bob]

You sound just like my mates . . . . . who are still having dramas with their computers.

They just refuse to change. . . . or feel too old to learn a new system (Macs)

If that's the answer, then you just have to learn to cop it sweet (put up with it!) with Microsoft and PCs.

I've no complaints with my Mac and it does all I need for general home work, getting my emails, surfing the web, etc.

It has brilliant graphics for downloading my digital camera on to, it has good speed and lots of young people I see nowadays are switching to Macs.

My youngest daughter did . . . and got me into Macs.

I'm glad she did.

[calibrated]

girls buy macs because they look cute. they dont care about the technical side of things. well, very very few do.

btw, my brother has a mac book pro (he's studying film and television), and my uncles business has about 30 macs (television production house). so i know how to work on macs.

i am an IT professional, and PC is by far easier to teach, and resolve issues. have you tried using bootcamp or parallels? good luck, coz thats a nightmare. apple still hasnt resolved serious issues from march 2007. and the knowledge base out there for macs is miniscule compared to PC.

i stand by my statement.

film and media - mac

home and office - PC.

[niemeerhier]

Firefox rocks!

[KathyW]

Ha!Ha! Are you gonna send us the patch when it comes out, pretty please.

[Jordy]

Ha!Ha! Are you gonna send us the patch when it comes out, pretty please.

Hi Kathy, the fix to Explorer's problems can be downloaded HERE

[KathyW]

Thanks Jordy, you are a star.

Cheers

Kathy

[calibrated]

Hi Kathy, the fix to Explorer's problems can be downloaded HERE

haha Legend!

[Jordy]

[Hendie]

I have to agree with Bob here. This is not to start a tech fight or anything, but I am a computer professional who have worked with computers all my life. I have seen the rise of the PC, and have worked intimately with ALL versions of Windows. I have always had great respect for the quality and solidity of Macs, but have also thought that they were a little expensive. Last year in September I took the plunge and bought a Macbook Pro (my first laptop ever). The experience has been nothing short of absolute bliss. The UNIX kernel underneath Mac OSX is rock solid, and I am totally unaware of any of the "serious issues since 2007" that calibrated is referring to. I use VMWare Fusion for the few Windows programs and misbehaved websites that I need to visit, and which insist on only running on IE. I have absolutely no issues, and in fact get a lot of satisfaction in running Windows in a window! The argument that a Mac is only good for media is also so far from the truth it's just funny. There is not a program or discipline that is not represented on the Mac platform in a cheaper and more professional package than on the PC. As a serious software developer I also would never go back to a PC - the UNIX base of Mac OSX is an absolute pleasure to develop on, and all open source software that runs on Linux runs on the Mac as well. As for cost - if you compare dollar for dollar what you get in a Mac, it is comparatively priced, and of superior quality to any PC out there, bar none! And here's an experiment, look in your Yellow Pages for PC repair shops, count the pages. Now look for Mac repair shops, count the entries - I bet you there are less Mac repair shops, than there are PAGES of PC repair shops. Why? Macs just work!

Safari Rulz!

[Jordy]

Ok guys to change the topic ever so slightly - What is your professional opinion on Mark Shuttleworth's UBUNTU? I have a friend who tried it and he is as sold on that over Windows as Mac users are over PC.

[Jitterbug]

Use another browser period!

With the new exchange rates to the USD the prices of the macs are a bit ridiculous. I got my macbook early in 2008 and paid more than R10 000 less than what they are going for now even though the prices in USD have remained the same, even for the new models.

If you have to use Windows just use Firefox 3, if you can afford it get Microsoft out of your life, and still use Firefox

Edited December 17, 2008 by Jitterbug

[calibrated]

I have to agree with Bob here. This is not to start a tech fight or anything, but I am a computer professional who have worked with computers all my life. I have seen the rise of the PC, and have worked intimately with ALL versions of Windows. I have always had great respect for the quality and solidity of Macs, but have also thought that they were a little expensive. Last year in September I took the plunge and bought a Macbook Pro (my first laptop ever). The experience has been nothing short of absolute bliss. The UNIX kernel underneath Mac OSX is rock solid, and I am totally unaware of any of the "serious issues since 2007" that calibrated is referring to. I use VMWare Fusion for the few Windows programs and misbehaved websites that I need to visit, and which insist on only running on IE. I have absolutely no issues, and in fact get a lot of satisfaction in running Windows in a window! The argument that a Mac is only good for media is also so far from the truth it's just funny. There is not a program or discipline that is not represented on the Mac platform in a cheaper and more professional package than on the PC. As a serious software developer I also would never go back to a PC - the UNIX base of Mac OSX is an absolute pleasure to develop on, and all open source software that runs on Linux runs on the Mac as well. As for cost - if you compare dollar for dollar what you get in a Mac, it is comparatively priced, and of superior quality to any PC out there, bar none! And here's an experiment, look in your Yellow Pages for PC repair shops, count the pages. Now look for Mac repair shops, count the entries - I bet you there are less Mac repair shops, than there are PAGES of PC repair shops. Why? Macs just work!

Safari Rulz!

the issues i am referring to are ones relating to bootcamp and parallels, and most recently for supporting XPSP3 or Vista SP1. i have only recently been looking into Fusion.

software developer? what language(s)? mac doesnt stand a chance in the corporate environment

as for the amount of repair shops, you'll find that proportional to the amount of mac users compared to pc users

Ok guys to change the topic ever so slightly - What is your professional opinion on Mark Shuttleworth's UBUNTU? I have a friend who tried it and he is as sold on that over Windows as Mac users are over PC.

Depends what your friend is using it for.

Ubuntu is great. if you know how to use linux, and you dont mind stuffing around for drivers all the time, games not working, etc... linux i would ONLY recommend for an advanced home user. a novice would struggle to do basic tasks. linux (red hat, debian, fedora, ubuntu) is usually on a server in corner, that never gets touched. can be a pain to setup, but once setup, requires very minimal maintanence.

Edited December 17, 2008 by calibrated

[Tarok]

Gee, IE threatened? What a shocker there's always some hole or threat to IE, simply because it's the most widely used browser it's the most "user tested".

For me though Google Chrome is the way to go... I installed it when they first released it, and haven't looked back. That said, I have IE, FF3 and Chrome installed on both my laptops, and use all 3 for different internet related tasks.

My 0.02AUD

Rudi

[polly]

I must say I also love Chrome. It has some really cool features and has been very stable for me so far. Its search facilities are a bonus. At hubby's office, they have all immediately taken to Chrome as well.

Pc vs Mac... hmmm... yet to attend a LAN party with macs.... Ok, so my priorities aren't for business We play games too much to move to a Mac. Macs have some awesome capabilities, just not what we are looking for.

[Mythryl]

I must say I also love Chrome. It has some really cool features and has been very stable for me so far. Its search facilities are a bonus. At hubby's office, they have all immediately taken to Chrome as well.

Pc vs Mac... hmmm... yet to attend a LAN party with macs.... Ok, so my priorities aren't for business We play games too much to move to a Mac. Macs have some awesome capabilities, just not what we are looking for.

A girl gamer? Fallacy! Screenshot or it didn't happen!

[Bob]

On Wednesday nights I go round to see a few old mates.

Last night was the same as usual, only I couldn't log on to my mate's PC. I wanted to check up on Garmin or TomTom GPS navigators after talking about them with my mates. I need one for all the months I'll be away next year in the U.K. and Europe.

I couldn't use Internet Explorer, even though my mates were dead against me getting my iMac earlier in the year.

I am like the blind man who said "All I know is that once I was blind, but now I can see!"

On coming home I logged on with my Mac . . . . . and it did what I needed it to do.

Let my mates keep mucking around with their PCs. . . . with all their dramas.

I am more than happy, nowadays, with my Mac.

It worked.

No dramas for me!

Folks can say whatever they like about Macs.

For me personally, I can't find anything wrong with them. .

They just go . . . . and go . . . and go . . . and go

[polly]

Mythryl, careful I'll whip your butt Girls are AWESOME gamers Here in Aus with more dependable broadband we have discovered MMO's I am starting to think one pc between hubby and me isn't enough. He gets up at 5am to get some game time.

(Playing Age of Conan at the moment... when they aren't updating the server )

PS very proud of my collectors edition Oblivion, even got the coin - somewhere

Edited December 18, 2008 by polly

[choog]

Am i the only one to use Opera?

I use windows and ubuntu.

[calibrated]

Am i the only one to use Opera?

I use windows and ubuntu.

i used to use opera, but FF is just better.

[louw.pretorius]

NO, FF is NOT better than Opera !!

Please specify

Fact:

1. Opera is THE fastest browser out there (even faster than chrome)

2. Opera is THE most secure browser

3. It has the most features(without having to fiddle with addons)

PC vs MAC:

1. Mac are great for people not wanting to fiddle with things but need a platform that "just works"

2. Mac is not the fastest hardware out there.

3. Mac is less resilient than PC (but then Mac people don;t need to do the stuff I do)

4. Mac is crap at gaming but then it follows on point 3

5. PC's are cheaper and faster than Macs

6. PC's can be upgraded easily and modularly

Ubuntu vs Mac vs MS:

1. Mac is less flexable than linux(like Ubuntu)

2. MS is a mess but I use it cause I have to. Ubuntu isn't stable enough for what I need to do and don't support the games I play.(neither does Mac)

To each his own, but if you want to fiddle and try new interesting things use MS and PC.

If you want stability that "just works" get a Mac

I am too adventurous for a Mac - maybe when I'm older

PS. I love these debates

PPS. Your Windows PC's should have the update already as all my PC's woke up this morning with Updates waiting....