Comments on: Second unofficial fix plugs IE hole

Another company releases third-party patch for serious flaw in Microsoft browser--but experts say to be cautious.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

What these so called 'experts' should be warning people about:

Using an alternative browser. It is the single most effective way for the general population and busineses to protect themselves.

I have a hard time coming up with a single Microsoft product that hasn't caused more harm than good. Only Microsoft Office spreads macro viruses, no other Office product has these issues. Most e-mail viruses are refered to as Microsoft OutLook or Exchange viruses. (LookOut! and Virus Exchange) There are no Eudora viruses, no Thunderbird viruses, no GroupWise viruses. Thanks to Microsoft we can't even view a picture on a Microsoft platform without fear of viruses. What's next out of Redmond, a text file based virus?

[rderveloy]

All Software is Vunerable

All software is vulnerable to attack. You can't have a completely invulnerable system that's connected to the internet. As soon as you open your computer to the internet, it's vulnerable to attack. It's true for all systems including Mac, Linux, and Windows.

Hackers (black-hat) make the viruses not Microsoft. Microsoft is the most visible software company since it has about 95% market share, which is probably why viruses are created to target their software. The purpose of a virus is to spread and cause as much damage as it can. Logically, they target the software that they can do the most widespread damage. Since Microsoft has 95% market share, it makes them a big fat target.

No one doubts that existing Microsoft products are buggy and have lots of holes in them, but it's the criminals that are responsible for all of these attacks not Microsoft.

It doesn't matter really since IE6 is on it's way out and IE7 promises to be much more secure.

[john55440]

Just installed Firefox...

I just installed Firefox today and, security aside, it's just faster and better than IE.(I have a lowly dial-up connection)

[Jackson Cracker]

Good idea

That's really the best way of patching IE -
installing another browser.

[JFDMit]

Monocultures

Monocultures are always a bad thing, whether in nature or software. African cheetas are so inbred that every one is virtually identical to every other. A bacteria or virus that kills one will kill all of them.

Microsoft's success in getting most of the world to run its OS has created a software monoculture. As a result, viruses, trojans and other exploits that would only affect a few machines in a more heterogeneous IT infrastructure, end up propagating across millions of machines.

We need more people running different OSs and different applications. Diversity is the key to a robust IT immune system.