January 21st, 2010,

I am taking a break from my current series to address the recent happenings with the attack from Chinese hackers.

IE Vulnerability
Translated excerpt from the German statement on IE:

“In Internet Explorer, there is a critical yet unknown vulnerability. The vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious code via a specially crafted Web page into a Windows computer to infiltrate and set up. The last week became known hacker attack on Google and other U.S. companies has probably exploited the vulnerability.” (Source)

Another excerpt:

“Microsoft claims the security risk can be limited by setting the browser’s security zone to “high”, although they admitted this limits functionality and blocks many websites.

But the BSI insisted that such measures were not sufficient and urged internet users to use alternative browsers.

“Using Internet Explorer in ’secure mode,’ as well as turning off Active Scripting makes attacks more difficult, but cannot fully prevent them,” it said in a statement.”(Source)

Basically, if you use IE, then you could get hacked.

Why Pick on IE?
All browsers have vulnerabilities – its a fact. So why pick on IE? There are a couple of reasons. Internet Explorer has a poor track record – they tend to have more vulnerabilities, and patch them slower than other browsers. Why? Because they already control the market. Other browsers HAVE to keep their patches up to date, or risk being completely obliterated.

What are the alternatives?
Firefox, Safari, Camino and others. There are plenty of other browsers that have shown themselves to maintain security and show true concern for their users. Firefox has been foremost in that field. A recent report shows that now 40% of web viewers in Germany are using Firefox (Source).

Do I really need to worry?
The answer to that is – your call. This vulnerability actually allows hackers to take control of your computer systems. These hackers didn’t just attack unwitting internet users with no effect. They attacked a large number of US corporations who have dedicated IT teams to protect against those kinds of attacks. Now that the vulnerability is known, other hackers may try to take advantage of it, and use it on the public at large.

Moving to a new browser will not guarantee computer security. But it will help. Using a secure browser, as well as using anti-vurs, firewalls, and smart browsing techniques can save you a lot of time and headaches.

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Aaron Chmelik
Web Designer & Programmer
email: aaron.chmelik@gmail.com
website: http://webdesign.aaronchmelik.com
phone: 651.757.5979

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