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Publish date: 2008-08-01
A study by The Swiss Institute of Technology, Google and IBM found that 45% of the people use an outdated version of their browser that does not live up to the current security threats.
When you park your car in the centre of town, you most-likely lock it. Perhaps you have sometimes even returned to check that it is really locked. That is common sense: the car has a lock, it reduces the chance of being robbed, so you use it. However, when it comes to Internet security, about 45% of all users do not bother locking their browser; they use an outdated version with well-known security holes. That is like having a note on your wind-screen saying “car is not locked, purse under driver seat.”
When a software company releases an update of their web browser, they also publish the security holes that have been fixed. This way users and experts can verify to what extend a browser is secure. By publishing these technical details, crackers also learn the weaknesses that exist in all but the most-recent version. They take advantage of it by exploiting them. The result is that your browser is especially vulnerable between the release of its next update until the time you apply that update. Hence, the shorter that interval, the better.
A study by The Swiss Institute of Technology, Google and IBM found that 45% of all users browse with an outdated version. Qoben gets similar numbers when monitoring its web sites. Most striking is that there are still -a small number of- people that use browser versions such as Internet Explorer 3, 4 and 5 that have not been updated since 2000, or to a lesser extend Mozilla Firefox 1.0 that was last updated in 2006. For that reason PayPal, a web payment firm, started blocking service to browser versions that it calls “unsafe.”
What can you do? Verify that you use the latest version of your browser: most browsers have an option to check regularly if there is a newer version. Use it. Furthermore, make sure that your operating system is patched frequently, if not automatically. If you need help, contact us. Qoben helps you to secure your computers and your local network.
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