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Thread: More secure browser.

  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    More secure browser.

    *deactivates lurking mode*

    Recently a frien of mine convinced me to start using FireFox it's a nice browser and the fact that its got some features IE does not made me keep using it but.

    I was wondering how much more or less secure FireFox is compared to IE.

    And while we are at it what would be the most secure browser available ?
    Since the beginning of time, Man has searched for the answers to the big questions: \'How did we get here?\' \'Is there life after death?\' \'Are we alone?\' But today, in this very theatre, you will be asked to answer the biggest question of them all...WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA?

  2. #2
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Just like operating systems.................nothing is "secure" per se....................depends how you set it up, how you use it etc..........

    Anything other than IE is more secure in theory, because IE is the most common browser and therefore, the most targetted?

    Cheers

  3. #3
    To be very straight foward:

    1. Firefox has automagic popup blocking, eliminating the accidental click.

    2. Firefox has ActiveX disabled and not installed, to get away from the annoying spyware that can be installed at the touch of a button.

    3. And finally, the way Firefox handles URLs, HTML rendering, and the like is done in such a way that the code base is natrually more secure than IE. Whereas the URL reading in IE allows vunerabities for spoofing and the like, Firefox has already noticed the mistakes IE has made and placed much more solid code in there.

    Granted, if IE had never made these mistakes, Firefox might have made them. But, none the less, there is the rundown to your question.

  4. #4
    AntiOnline n00b
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    Hi

    Firefox has emerged as a real contender to pick up the browser wars from where Netscape fell. But what is About IE that makes it Such Sucessful , Well My answer would be on Windows, IE remains the default because other applications rely on it. Ypou Simply can't get Rid of it and also end users rarely change the defaults. The uncomfortable truth is that IE, for all its shortcomings, is a quality product.

    Because its Popularity it also becomes like Microsoft's OS, Target of Most of the Hijak Attacks. Well to tell you the truth i never had a problem of home page hijak in Firefox. And My IE Home page got hijacked every 6to8 days.

    Firefox does well in the areas that really matter usability, extensibility and security. To put another way what Internet Explorer gets wrong, Firefox gets right and i love it

    The first thing that struck me about FireFox was Simple, Uncomplicated. IE is Very unforgiving to Badly formatted HTML, on the other hand Firefox is quite opposite

    Initial startup of Firefox is slower than IE can't blame it though Most of IE Shared libraries gets loded in the memory as the Stystem gets Booted.

    Firefox doesn't offer ActiveX support. This can be seen as an advantage, because it immediately eliminates a whole host of exploits to which IE is vulnerable. Somehow it hasen't affectd it's popularity a bit i never felt the lack of it but certainly feelt safer.

    And its Open Source need i say more on it ..........................................

    The fact that Firefox isn't tightly integrated into the underlying Operating System like IE , This might be a advantage security-wise.

    Thats it for now , I am a bit Drunk right now...... See you later

    EDIT
    Where did you two come from Soorry Your posts weren't there when i started writing mine *hic *HIC
    --Good Luck--

  5. #5
    IE is Very unforgiving to Badly formatted HTML,
    I actually like that aspect of IE. It encourages people to write proper HTML code that works instead of half-assed code

  6. #6
    AntiOnline n00b
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    hi Poo

    The coin always has two side , Every Advantage can be a disadvantage at other time for example ActiveX corporate users might not prefer Firefox coz if they have to use intranet apps that generally rely hevaly on ActiveX . IE would be a better option then

    --Good Luck--

  7. #7
    So install the ActiveX plugin for Firefox

  8. #8
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    IE is the most secure web browsing solution (not client) availible for windows.

    By running IE as a less privileged user and locking it down (with regard to scripts and the like) IE will be safe to browse with.

    The reason why it is more secure than other locked down browsers run as a less privileged user is that since you can't remove IE you've up the system's complexity by adding the second browser. Giving the entire system less assurance, in pracitcal terms it means that many expolits will be able to target the application they wish and this means that your new browser and IE are valid targets. (This however does not include browsing exlpoits, but since comparing those merely comes down to a conversation about bug counts as most browsers offer the same types of security mechanism there really is no point.)

    catch

  9. #9
    By running IE as a less privileged user and locking it down (with regard to scripts and the like) IE will be safe to browse with.
    So, basically turning it into another browser? -hands you a tin foil hat-

  10. #10
    Banned
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    Originally posted here by pooh sun tzu


    So, basically turning it into another browser? -hands you a tin foil hat-

    How is this turning it into a different browser? Those lock down options are part of IE for a reason.

    catch

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