Attack code published for Firefox flaw

Computer code that could be used to attack Firefox, Mozilla Suite and Netscape users has been released on the Internet. The release of the attack code comes days after Mozilla released an updated version of Firefox to fix several security flaws, including the bug exploited by the code. A fixed version of the Mozilla Suite is also available, but Firefox-based Netscape has yet to be updated. The Netscape browser is a product of Netscape, which is a division of Time Warner's America Online subsidiary. An AOL spokesman had no comment on Thursday.

The attack code exploits a vulnerability that was disclosed two weeks ago. The flaw lies in the way the browsers handle International Domain Names, or IDNs, which are Web addresses that use international characters. Hackers had been working to exploit the flaw and had said the code would be released after fixes were available. The exploit could let attackers run code remotely on vulnerable computers and works on Firefox, Mozilla and, in some cases, Netscape, according to security researcher Berend-Jan Wever, who published the code. Mozilla has urged users to upgrade to the latest versions of its products.

FireFox sucks, use Opera!

Opera's free and it has all the features that the doh!zilla foundation claims to have invented. <br /><br />Dorkzilla is turning out to be worse the M$! <br /><br />Download a real browser <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.opera.com" target="_newWindow">http://www.opera.com</a>

[aabcdefghij987654321]

FireFox sucks, use Opera!

I agree wholeheartedly! Opera is amazing.

[System Tyrant]

Nice, real nice.

That's the way to get people to move to Opera. Instead of offering the honey you throw vineger.<br /><br />Now, Opera is a nice browser that does much more than Firefox. It allows you to rearange tabs and has lots of developer tools. It is very compliant with W3C recommendations and has lots of features. Now that it's free I would suggest that anybody who is interested download it and try it out. Just like anything though give yourself time to learn it as it doesn't work like IE and is still different than Firefox.<br /><br />Firefox doesn't 'suck'. If and when Opera generates as many users and popularity as Firefox has then (I'm going to sound like a Microsoft fan) we will see if it can stand shinning under the scruteny. I, for one, think Firefox is fair quite well with regard to security. A flaw is found, a workaround is released, and in a week or so a fix is released. That's really all that can be expected of any company be it Microsoft, Mozilla, or Opera.<br /><br />However, having a nasty attitude toward any company doesn't win converts to yours. This much I have learned. You want people to switch to Opera from Firefox or IE then you need to offer a compelling reason why they should. All you will accomplish with bashing is turning people away from Opera because they don't want to be associated with people who bash others. I think in someways this is a small part of the reason why Linux and Firefox have had problems making headway. Instead of techies discussing the benifits of using Linux or Firefox they just tell you how bad Microsoft sucks. Well, for the majority of people Microsoft products have done just fine.

[Mister C]

Opera sucks, use FireFox!

Just thought I would throw that in.

[Harfeld Bilgewing]

Yeah, then when Opera gets popular...

They'll post exploit code for it, too.<br /><br />Everyone is waiting for a bulletproof browser. What we need are smarer surfers.

[Des Alba]

Opera not bulletproof

Check out securityfocus.com. I'm using Opera to post this. Opera is not nearly as popular as IE, Firefox or Netscape, YET. It has a lot of things going for it, true. It can emulate IE and Firefox, but the temptation to bug Opera will be too great for some people and malicious code is bound to follow, sooner, rather than later. Be aware! Run anti-spyware and anti-virus packages in the background, while browsing. Keep the other browsers on your PC as well. You will need them for certain things you'll want to do. Opera doesn't work on every site (i.e. Banking, Investing, YahooMusic) which require IE.