Time to change your browser

Moving from Internet Explorer is a safer option!

Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser was the centre of more controversy this week after a security flaw in the software was blamed for attacks on several large companies including Google. The security exploit is believed to allow attackers access to a users computer which would allow them to take control of certain features and run and even install scripts/software.

Microsoft themselves has issued a warning with regards to this latest exploit which comes as the newest of many security issues with using the browser. The exploit is reported to affect versions 6, 7 and 8 of the Internet Explorer software.

Around 5 or 6 years ago I made a permanent switch from the Internet Explorer (IE) browser and started using Mozilla's Firefox offering. At the time I made my decision to change based on articles I had read relating to Internet Security. The problem with IE is that it has the majority market share of internet users because it comes pre-packaged with the Windows OS. This means that any person/hacker wanting to infect or take control of a users computer using malicious code hidden in websites would always target IE users as they would have a greater chance of infecting a large number of machines.

So based on knowing the above I checked out a few browsers and made my choice. At the time Firefox was the only real contender and it was a much better browser. Since then I have always recommended people switch to Firefox to make their general browsing a safer experience. I always recommend a decent Internet Security Suite as well but they are more likely to take the browser advice because it is free to do.

More recently Google also launched their own browser as a possible contender and as a website developer I installed it to try it out, and also because all the sites I design have to work in all browsers. My verdict on the Google Chrome browser is basically that is a force to be reckoned with, they appear to have put a lot into the software and have done nearly everything right. So much so that even though I still use Firefox myself (More due to force of habit and being happy with it) I find myself recommending Chrome to my Friends, family and Clients alike.

The point of this post, although I may have gone the long way around about getting to it, is that for improved security while browsing the internet I recommend you should consider moving away from Internet Explorer. There are less (if any) people trying to exploit machines using Firefox or Chrome so by definition they are a safer option. I think for anyone with little experience with computers Chrome is a very easy to use and simple browser with tonnes of great features. But even Firefox is as simple to use as IE but a lot more secure.

So the question you have to ask yourself is: Is my online safety worth the 5 minutes it is going to take me to download and install a better browser? . . . of course it is.