ClarityWEB Article
Germany and France warn not to use Internet Explorer
When a government issues a warning to its population not to do something, and in particular not use a product, it's not a good sign. Yet that's precisely what Germany and France have done in respect of Microsofts Internet Explorer
Both governments have expressed concern about a loophole that is believed to be one used recently exploit security and enable hacking that has been written about by Google (it's China hacking attacks).
Microsoft has challenged the warning by saying that no such loophole exists in the latest IE version, 8, but it may be fighting a losing battle. The German Federal Office for Information Security, BSI, advised temporary use of alternative browsers because of a critical security hole in Microsoft's software that allows hackers to remotely plant and run malicious code on Windows PCs.
Meanwhile, the French CERTA agency recommended the use of alternative browsers until an improved version was available from Microsoft - so they're not demonstrating much faith in Microsofts IE8 claims.
Microsoft admit that flaws in security have allowed hacking incidents and they also confirm that the technical details released by the Germans and French are correct, but they warn that other browsers have flaws too and that such announcements by government bodies can create a false sense of security.
All in all, it's bad new for Microsoft. Already under fire from a rapidly improving Google Chrome, constantly under attack from Firefox with release after release and with Apple users happy and content with Safari, you have to start to ask if the writing is on the wall for Internet Explorer.
If the rest of Europe follows suit, though there is sign of such action, then they'll be in serious trouble and an already high number of OEM's may start to package alternative browsers with their systems.
Microsoft is paying for mistakes made in the past, few of which have made their way into Internet Explorer 8, and no amount of positive PR and denials will turn around the oil tanker already destined for the rocks. It could be that the leviathon that is Internet Explorer, the foundation on which so many users have built their web knowledge, is in its final days.
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Why the announcements?
In defence of Microsoft we do find the announcements of the German and French governments to be somewhat unusual and inflammatory.
We're not saying they're not without foundation, but IE is the subject of so much bad press that if often masks the flaws of other browsers.
If you visit the Mozilla website (publishers of Firefox) and view their security vulnerabilities pages you'll find a long page of known issues about it's latest release - v3.5. But the press doesn't pick up on this because it doesn't have a massive following of critics waiting to pick up on bad news about Mozilla, unlike Microsoft.
Less than a year ago Google announced several critical flaws in it's Chrome browser. Yet again the press around this was minimal because Google is so often seen as the internet darling who can do no wrong - but anyone who had the loophole exploited and fell victim to it might disagree.
Even more recently, last week, a flaw was identified in the RSS handler of Apple's latest Safari browser. This loophole is so bad that it is allegedly a hacker could gain direct access to files on your hard drive - how bad does it get!
Taken into context you'll find every browser has flaws, but Microsofts will always get the public attention because of the sheer volume of users their products have. Tough luck Microsoft - get it sorted soon!
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