IE Errors Attack Google

Interesting BBC post on the warning by the German government against using Microsoft Internet Explorer. IE versions 6, 7 and 8 are involved with most recent security flaws. These flaws permitted some wrong-doers to perpetrate no good and specifically attack Google and a couple dozen other large companies.

Complete security is a fairy land on the Internet. We all know there will always be people willing to get something for nothing, skirt the law, and outright steal from you. Protect yourself and your information.

Microsoft has begged users for years to use their flagship browser Internet Explorer with the highest security settings possible. Using IE with security set to ‘high’ will not allow scripts to run. Any sites that you use that personalize your visits in some way may not function correctly, but those can be added to a list of trusted sites.

Microsoft is kind enough to provide us with instructions for how to add a website to a security zone, but look how complicated it is:

1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, and then clicking Internet Explorer.
2. Navigate to the website that you want to add to a specific security zone.
3. Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
4. Click the Security tab, and then click a security zone (Local intranet, Trusted sites, or Restricted sites).
5. Click Sites.
6. If you clicked Local intranet in the previous step, click Advanced.
7. The website should be shown in the Add this website to the zone field. Click Add. If the site is not a secure site (HTTPS), clear the Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone check box.
8. Click Close, and then click OK (or click OK twice if you clicked Local intranet in step 4).

Gotta love that first step! It seems like Microsoft is stuck in the 1990s. Why not have a simple button on the browser toolbar to click off the sites that you really do want to visit and otherwise trust?

The best thing that you can do is download and run Firefox.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Microsoft Confirms Internet Explorer Vulnerability [Security] (ghacks.net)
• German govt’s Microsoft Internet Explorer warning (taragana.com)