Web Browsers Security. Opera, Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox
After yesterdays post about new Firefox security bug I’ve decided to check out, which of the worlds most popular web browsers are most secure. Thanks to Secunia for stats.
Opera 9.x – Affected By 6 Secunia advisories
Unpatched 0% (0 of 6 Secunia advisories)
Internet Explorer 7.x – Affected By 13 Secunia advisories
Unpatched 54% (7 of 13 Secunia advisories)
Most Critical Unpatched
The most severe unpatched Secunia advisory affecting Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.x, with all vendor patches applied, is rated Moderately critical.
Safari 2.x – Affected By 6 Secunia advisories
Unpatched 67% (4 of 6 Secunia advisories)
Most Critical Unpatched
The most severe unpatched Secunia advisory affecting Safari 2.x, with all vendor patches applied, is rated Less critical.
Firefox 2.0.x – Affected By 12 Secunia advisories
Unpatched 67% (8 of 12 Secunia advisories)
Most Critical Unpatched
The most severe unpatched Secunia advisory affecting Mozilla Firefox 2.0.x, with all vendor patches applied, is rated Highly critical.
I am really confused right now, but does that makes Firefox 2.0.x most insecure web browser? And according to Secunia stats, Internet Explorer 7 is right after Opera which puts it into the 2nd place?
1. Opera 9.x – Most Secure Web Browser?
2. Internet Explorer 7.x
3. Safari 2.x
4. Firefox 2.0.x – Most Insecure Web Browser?
We Will Have Firefox 3 Alpha 7. Firefox 3 Beta Delayed
Recently Mozilla modified their Firefox 3 roadmap and announced Firefox 3 Alpha 7 instead of Firefox 3 Beta 1.
According to Mozilla, next Firefox 3 release isn’t ready to call itself a “beta”, they want to deliver a product, which is stable and much better, it doesn’t matter if it can take more time than planned. I guess that’s good, we want finished and polished releases, not just a big peace of bugs.
Firefox 3 Alpha 7 should contain anti-malware, finished offline api’s and secure wrappers. If there won’t be any delays for Firefox 3 Alpha 7, it will be released on July 31st.
Firefox 3 Milestone 8 will be available in the middle of September.
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Firefox “firefoxurl” URI Handler Registration Vulnerability
Secunia reported today about a new exploit for Firefox 2.0.0.4 (might affect previous builds as well).
A vulnerability has been discovered in Firefox, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user’s system.
Solution:
Do not browse untrusted sites.
Disable the “Firefox URL” URI handler.
Thor Larholm noted:
There is an input validation flaw in Internet Explorer that allows you to specify arbitrary arguments to the process responsible for handling URL protocols. This is the same type of input validation vulnerability that I discovered in the Safari 3 beta.
Opera 9.22, Build 8800 Released
Today Opera’s desktop team updated us with a new Opera 9.22 build.
Unfortunately they haven’t provided much information about this weekly build, since it really came up very fast after the previous Opera 9.22 build, but you should know that it is much faster with high speed peers now + more stable.
Off-Topic: Junyor also noted, that there won’t be any Opera 9.5 build on Friday.
Download:
Windows MSI
Windows Classic
Macintosh
Unix
And as always, use it on your own risk. This is not a final version.
Flock 0.9 Beta (Social Browser)
Ever heard about it? No? Me too. It’s basically a Mozilla Firefox based browser, so not a “real” web browser, more likely like a big extension.
Click to enlarge
However, if you are using social networks a lot, this might be usefull for you then.
Feel free to read more about their current release here.
“Opera Everywhere” Contest – Win Nintendo DS Lite
We have another great contests with even greater prize. You can win Japanese version of Nintendo DS Lite (not sure if works worldwide), so if you are interested, feel free to read this article.
What you have to do?
It’s very simple, use Opera’s t-shirts, stickers, printed logos or any other goods, place them anywhere you want, take a photo, submit it and comment in this topic.
If the submitted photo should be on a photo album on my.opera, or Opera Browser group on Flickr, the photo will get a bonus point.
Submit your photo by Wednesday, July 18th 24:00 (JPT)
Winners will be announced on Friday, July 20th
Current submission photos.
Opera Everywhere.
Web Browsers Tactics And Strategies
Today I’ve decided to write a bit, of what should web browsers developers do in order to win or not to lose market share.
This is only my opinion which can be wrong as well. It can also be offensive for some of you.
Internet Explorer – Drop that slow and poorly written Internet Explorer core and develop something good. Internet Explorer is slow, buggy; uses lots of resources, ignores web standards, renders bad, lacks of functionality, etc. It’s just a big piece of software, which sooner or later won’t be used anymore. Develop faster, why are you sleeping? All other companies are much smaller and release/announces new versions more frequency. How that’s possible? Don’t be lazy just cause you have money.
Firefox – Finally fix memory leak bug (some says it’s already a “feature”). Support web standards (glad you will do that in Firefox 3), stop stealing features from other browsers and develop something more on your own.
Opera – Stop crying, that a big part of web developers ignores you. Buy advertising in web developer communities, and just get in touch with them. Build strong relations and explain why they should develop new product not just for IE, Firefox, Safari, and Netscape but also for Opera.
Safari – Not much to say yet. Waiting for the final Safari 3 release. Yes, we know that you’ve invented an iPhone, but who cares?
Netscape, Konqueror and others – Haven’t used them. Why? Make some whispers, get more attention.
Social Network For Software Users
If you enjoy using social networks this might be interesting then.
Wakoopa.com is a social network for software users (more likely fans), so if you are a big fan of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Netscape or what’s so ever, feel free to join there.
I am not sure, what’s the point to join those groups, as all I read was: “I love this browser, the best of the best”, etc… But hey, that’s only my opinion.
Internet Explorer is in the 1st place.
Firefox is in the 2nd place.
Opera is in the 3rd place.
Safari remains 6th.
BrowserShots.org And Opera (Part II)
Yesterday I’ve posted an article “BrowserShots.org Removes Opera?” and would like to update you.
Johann from BrowsherShots.org explained, that they haven’t removed Opera from the website, it’s just because not all the screenshot making machines (with different operating systems and browsers) working all the time.
Thanks Johann.
Apple’s Safari SnapBack Feature For Firefox Users
Recently I’ve wrote, that Opera’s Speed Dial feature was copied by Firefox fans and released as an add-on.
Today I’ve noticed one Firefox add-on (developer: Philipp E. Imhof), which do the same like Safari’s SnapBack feature.
This extension enables you to temporarily save an URL. You may then follow links and go anywhere you want and jump back to the “waypoint” immediately. This is useful e.g. for forums.
Althought I am not a fan of Firefox add-ons or Opera’s widgets, you may find this one usefull.
More details and download link can be found here.
