France backs German advice: Avoid Internet Explorer
French officials have backed their German counterparts in advising the public to avoid using Internet Explorer until there’s a fix for the security flaw exploited in attacks on Google in China. But Microsoft insists that its browser is the safest on the market.
The government agency responsible for cybersecurity in France, CERTA, issued a warning about the bug concluding (translated):
Pending a patch from the publisher, CERTA recommends using an alternative browser. CERTA said it is also strongly advised to browse the Internet with a user account with limited rights and the disabling of interpretation of dynamic code (JavaScript, ActiveX, …). Moreover, activation of the DEP (Data Execution Prevention) may limit the impact of this vulnerability.
That mirrors a statement by a German agency which argued that it was likely the publicity about the vulnerability would increase the chances of more widespread attacks before the issue is fixed.
For its part, Microsoft rejects the advice, countering that the attacks have so far been very specifically targeted and there’s no evidence of a threat to the general public. It’s also put out this chart which it says shows that although the bug exists in all versions of Internet Explorer, other security measures mean it should only be exploitable in version 6:
The firm’s Cliff Evans told the BBC that switching to other browsers would be pointless as they also had vulnerabilities and said, “We feel strongly that IE8 is most secure browser on the market.”
The German government’s response is not the first time advice in the country has criticized Internet Explorer. A university’s internet security department previously told users they should steer clear of the browser completely. That warning, and the resulting press coverage, may be one of the main reasons Firefox recently overtook Internet Explorer as the most used browser in Germany.
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