As much as it would probably sooth the stiffness in my neck and shoulders from doing busy work inventorying computer equipment today, I’m going to try to not turn this into a sarcastic sounding slam against Microsoft… although they damn well deserve it.
I’ll just keep this very short. Internet Explorer has once again dropped the ball in the realm of Internet security and it’s something that’s been present for over 48 hours already. You can read about the problem via BBC’s website by clicking here.
The article states in bold letters at the top, “Security experts recommend switching to a rival browser until the problem is fixed.” Need a rival web browser? Download Firefox at www.firefox.com. It’s free, faster and much more secure than Internet Explorer ever will be. Seriously. Why is it more secure, you ask? Because it’s open-source, just like Linux. But again… don’t wanna turn this into a “Microsoft sucks” bashing post.
Also, on the side, I should mention that I’ve see a LOT of Windows systems get hit with viruses in the last 3 weeks, a good chunk of which have come in from emails on Facebook. Which isn’t to say that Facebook is bad. It just doesn’t have much of an effective spam filter or virus scanner built into it. You would think that after a few people have recieved the same spam from their friend whose computer was compromised, they’d start filtering messages with the same links, the same stupid subject line, and all the rest that comes along with basic social engineering-based viruses. It’s what Yahoo and Google do. So to you Facebook/Myspace users out there (and everyone else who doesn’t uses these services), be VERY cautious about clicking on links to websites you’ve never visited to before in email sent to you by a friend. They may not have actually sent you something. In fact, it’s possible their account password was phished, changed, and their account used as a lauch pad for spreading the same infection to other people (like you). So be careful.