Experts suggest ditching Microsoft Web browser

BY LOU DOLINAR
Staff Writer

June 30, 2004


The federal government's own cyberdefense experts, along with other computer gurus, are urging users to consider a switch away from Microsoft's widely used Internet Explorer because of new security problems.

The unusual, and for Microsoft, embarrassing warning follows an exploit that has allowed hackers to surreptitiously install software on hundreds of Web sites that use Microsoft's Web server programs.

That in turn downloads a spyware program to personal computers, including one that steals credit card numbers and other forms of financial information.

"This is a wake-up call for us to advise users to switch to an alternative browser," said Johannes Ulrich of the Internet Storm Center of the SANS Institute, a security research organization based in Bethesda, Md., which tracks immediate threats on the Internet. "With Internet Explorer, you're playing Russian roulette and hoping the sites you visit aren't compromised."

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