Comments on: Firefox tops ‘critical’ list

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 10:23:17 +0000

I used to run spybot all the time when I used IE, since changing over to FF it hasn’t picked up anything other than the odd suspect cookie (easily removed and pretty harmless anyway).

I haven’t had any viruses or security breaches in 5 years and I run an antivirus software free XP install. Education is the key, know what you’re clicking on (don’t hide known file extensions), avoid IE/Outlook (85% of the web/mail client market, more than 85% of viruses written for them). Sure FireFox ain’t perfect, it’ll bleed if you kick it but in my experience IE goes totaly belly up if you hand it some valid html!?!

I also protect myself with sods/murphies law. If you keep everything backed up you’ll never have any virus/spyware/hardware failure problems.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 05:57:33 +0000

I must agree with the above Reader/Writer â I have had no problems since switching from IE6 to Firefox, which does, indeed, keep me updated. I once thought IE6 was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I attributed most of my Malware to other sources; but as soon as I dumped IE6 for Firefox, my malware problems miraculously vanished. (of course, a good desktop utilities program, such as System Suite Professional 6 helps to keep things humming along. I get no royalties or kickbacks from them, but Iâll gladly recommend them any time!)

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 23:12:26 +0000

On June 20th, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based software security company Bit9 issued a report announcing what it found to be the top 15 applications with known vulnerabilities. While BitDefender 9 was listed among these vulnerabilities, BitDefender has received today a written apology from Bit9âs executives for including these products.

While BitDefender 9 did include a minor vulnerability last September, BitDefender immediately discovered the problem and issued an automatic patch which required no user intervention.

âBy erroneously including BitDefender 9 among its list of top vulnerabilities, Bit9 has caused great confusion in the IT market and a disservice to our emerging consumer base,â commented Bogdan Dumitru, BitDefenderâs chief technology officer. âIt is very common for software companies â at some point or another â to find vulnerabilities in their new software releases. As one of the worldâs most powerful antivirus software and data security solutions, BitDefender prides itself on ensuring that these vulnerabilities are found and fixed as quickly as possible. In this case, we did just that. It was wrong and slanderous for Bit9 to have issued this weekâs statement without first confirming the facts.â

Today, BitDefender is trusted by over 41 million users worldwide and offers the industryâs most efficient line of anti-virus and data security defense. The company is a recipient of countless awards for its flawless protection of both enterprise and personal computer use software. BitDefender represents the new drivers in the perimeter security market â challenging established vendors which force users to accept less effective and often more costly security applications.

For further information, please contact: BitDefender@topazpartners.com

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 22:43:31 +0000

“It relies on the end user, rather than a central administrator, to manually patch or upgrade the software to eliminate the vulnerability, if such a patch exists.”

I’m sorry, Firefox does not fall under this category. The patches are automatically downloaded. Whereas, Opera and IE are not. Get your record straight.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 21:24:11 +0000

Of course, IE is not on the list. Pick on the old version of a competing browser; just leave MS alone…

I openly question the list of ‘bad’ apps. I use Firefox under IT’s nose because of the risks in IE. If I am caught, I would lose my work terminal. So much for safe IT practices…

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 20:28:07 +0000

So the top ten are basically all the programs that people who aren’t that hot on computer security have installed and use every day. Lovely.