This subject seems to be gaining momentum every day. Many reputable security related and non-security related websites state this as a fact. I often wonder how these people that are non-technical in nature can make such a statement. To me, there is a perception that FireFox is more secure than Internet Explorer because of the fact that FireFox is currently a much smaller target in terms of the number of active users, and thus does not have as many publicized security issues.
As FireFox gains popularity and more users migrate towards using the browser, the spyware/adware/malware authors will find ways to exploit FireFox just as they have with Internet Explorer and other popular software titles.
Internet Explorer is not without its own flaws, but has received a bad reputation regarding security especially with the use of ActiveX Controls as they allow a hacker or spyware/adware application full access to the system. FireFox has the same issues with the XPCOM plugins - if a user allows them to be installed, they can have full unrestricted access to the user's system.
Microsoft has addressed most of the issues surrounding the ActiveX controls in the Windows XP Service Pack 2 release where Internet Explorer prompts twice when any site wishes to install an ActiveX control, or redirect to a downloadable file.
We (SuperAdBlocker.com) have done extensive development with Internet Explorer and FireFox and both have their strengths and weaknesses. The major problem that we have faced with FireFox is that due to its Open Source nature, the code changes drastically between builds. This means, we, as developers can not rely on the internal architecture of the product. This will undoubtedly be the source of another blog :)
FireFox being Open Source does allow spyware/adware authors to have direct access to see how the product works from an engineering perspective and possibly find flaws and security holes quicker than a non-open source product.
I think it will take some time to see whether FireFox truely is a "more secure" browser than Internet Explorer. Microsoft is not going to simply sit by and watch FireFox take over, they will undoubtedly escalate their development efforts to keep up or stay ahead of FireFox. They are already showing this attitude with Internet Explorer 7.
Posted : 10/18/2005 - 11:53:20 AM by Nick |
