Tag Archives: Firefox

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Updated: Choosing the Safest Browser, Part One

Category:Information Security,Infosec Communicator,Internet Safety,Uncategorized Tags : 

Swim safe!

This post provides an update to last year’s Choosing the Safest Browser post. Let’s take a look at what’s changed since June 2010.

Browsers

Last year, we looked at the following browsers to discuss which would be the safest:

Number of Vulnerabilities

How do you decide which browser is the safest? One way is to look at the vulnerabilities that were disclosed for each one. Attackers may exploit these vulnerabilities to place malicious code onto your computer.

In Spring 2010, my Cyber Self Defense class ranked the browsers in the order below according to which ones they thought had the most vulnerabilities:

  1. Internet Explorer
  2. Safari
  3. Opera
  4. Firefox
  5. Chrome

According to the  Symantec 2008 Internet Threat Report, here’s the list of browsers ranked from most reported vulnerabilities to the least:

  1. Firefox
  2. Internet Explorer
  3. Safari
  4. Opera
  5. Chrome

The class was really surprised by this ranking.

June 2011

Let’s see how the rankings look from the Symantec 2010 Internet Threat Report. Here’s the 2010 list of browsers and number of vulnerabilities:

  1. Google Chrome–191 vulnerabilities
  2. Apple Safari–119
  3. Mozilla Firefox–100
  4. Microsoft Internet Explorer–59
  5. Opera–31

I was surprised by this order. Ranking browsers by vulnerabilities reported, Chrome appears to be the worst and Opera the best. (In the 2008 report, Chrome had the fewest vulnerabilities!)

Average Time to Fix a Vulnerability

Another way to look at browser safety is how long it takes for a reported vulnerability to be fixed. How would you rank these same five browsers from shortest to longest patch time?

In the 2010 report, Internet Explorer had an average patch time of 4 days. Opera, Safari, and Chrome were each one day or less. (In the 2008 report, Safari had an average “exposure” time of nine days, compared to the “best,” Firefox, which normally took only one day to patch.)

Patch time alone doesn’t appear to be a factor when choosing the worst browser.

Safe browsing is important because the majority of attacks are web-based, peaking at  almost 40 million per day in September 2010.

Does Your Browser Choice Really Matter?

In my opinion, not so much. Internet Explorer vulnerabilities are targeted more because it’s the biggest target. However, all of the browsers mentioned have vulnerabilities and all are patched relatively quickly. Many attacks actually target applications such as Adobe Flash, QuickTime, and the like. Malicious PDFs have also become a huge problem in the last year. What matters are safe practices!

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Choosing the Safest Browser

Category:Information Security,Infosec Communicator,Internet Safety,Uncategorized Tags : 

There’s always discussion among techies about which internet browser is better. Most of them end up bashing Internet Explorer. Does it really matter which browser you use?

Maybe, but not for the reasons you might think. Here’s a list of the five most common browsers, in no particular order:

  • Opera
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Internet Explorer
  • Google Chrome

Which of these browsers is the safest? The one with the fewest number of reported vulnerabilities? I asked my Cyber Self Defense class last quarter to guess which browser had the most vulnerabilities.

Here’s the order they came up with:

  1. Internet Explorer
  2. Safari
  3. Opera
  4. Firefox
  5. Chrome

According to the  Symantec 2008 Internet Threat Report, here’s the list of browsers ranked from most reported vulnerabilities to the least:

  1. Firefox
  2. Internet Explorer
  3. Safari
  4. Opera
  5. Chrome

Is this the order you expected? Did you think that Internet Explorer would have the highest number? If we go strictly by number of vulnerabilities reported, Google Chrome would be the safest browser to use and Firefox the worst.

Another way to look at browser safety is how long it takes for a reported vulnerability to be fixed. How would you rank these same five browsers from shortest to longest patch time?

Again, the class assumed the worst browser would be Internet Explorer. However, Safari had an average “exposure” time of nine days, compared to the “best,” Firefox, which normally took only one day to patch.

Internet Explorer is attacked the most. Why? Because it’s used by the most people and provides a higher ROI for cyber criminals. Because it’s attacked the most, it MAY be safer to use a different browser. However,  safer Internet browsing has as much to do with safe practice as it does browser choice. If you browse unsafe sites, you’re more likely to be attacked.

Here’s what we’re telling students, faculty, and staff at the Rochester Institute of Technology about safer internet browsing.

Browser Security

How can you tell how secure your web browser may be? Scanit’s Browser Security Test checks your browser security settings and provides a report explaining the vulnerabilities, the potential impacts, and how to correct them.

Update Regularly

It is important to keep your browser up-to-date on security patches. This can typically be done from within the browser, or directly from the vendor’s website. Check for updates at least monthly.

 

Anti-Phishing Tools

Internet Explorer 7.x and higher, Safari 3.2 and higher, and Mozilla Firefox 3.x and higher all provide some protection against phishing.

The Netcraft Toolbar is a browser plug-in available for Internet Explorer and Firefox. The toolbar helps stop phishing attempts by blocking known phishing sites and providing hosting information about the sites you visit.

The McAfee Site Advisor is a browser plug-in available for Internet Explorer and Firefox. The Site Advisor warns you of websites known to have malicious downloads or links by checking them against a database at McAfee.

 

Limited Account Privileges

Limiting account privileges provides simple but effective protection when working online. Limited accounts allow you to do most daily activities but do not allow you to install software (only accounts with administrative privileges can install software on the computer).

Many attacks take advantage of administrative privileges to install malware on your computer. If you’re using a limited account, attackers and malicious websites will not be able to install malware. (This is less of an issue with Windows 7 and Mac OS X because they ask you to confirm software changes.)

Ben

Postscript: I’ve included links below to my 6/30/11 posts updating this article.

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