"endless vulnerabilities" is an interesting point, since in one week last month, there were two Mac virii that -- as I predicted years ago -- affected hundreds of computers around the world. The problems were in OS 10. I heard that Apple supplied patches. Let's see what the next moves are, but I thought it apt to mention in this off-topic post, that not just PCs are infected, it's just that the Mac target is smaller, and perhaps harder to target. Also, cellphone virii have been reported, and not on MS platforms. That said, I'm helping a neighbor deal with the _hazafibb infection (and perhaps more) right now. Last night -- this is his third or fourth infection this year, twice requiring a total reinstall of Win XP -- I got his cheap self to agree that $30 a year for McAfee or Symantec was a good thing. This latest infection came despite him having the free AVG version. I also noted last night that Computer Associates has virus protection for PCs, Macs, Linux, Pocket PC ... (some might be more FUD than having real problems.) John Willkie P.S. Unfortunately, many problems with IE are not the browser itself, but the Internet plumbing behind it. EVEN IF YOU REMOVE IE, the internet plumbing remains. Many people with PCs know this, and it was a prominent feature of the Justice Department case against MS. -----Original Message----- From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Craig Birkmaier Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2004 4:36 AM To: OpenDTV Mail List Subject: [opendtv] Tide Turning in Browser Wars? Just when we thought the "browser wars" were over... Looks like some Windows users are going to learn how difficult it is to install and use an alternative Web browser to Micrisoft's flagship "integrated" Internet Explorer. I started hearing about the latest vulnerabilities in IE several days ago, via a tech segment on our local Talk radio station. The commentator is a side-kick on a local afternoon show, who also runs a company that specializes in "Digital Marketing" and PC maintenance/sales. Mr. PC's (no, I'm not kidding) advice is to switch to the Mozilla browser. Now the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team is recommending that people stop using IE as well. Could the hackers finally be winning the war, exposing Microsoft's seemingly endless vulnerabilities? Could this kind of negative publicity wake people up to the options that exist for running a PC today, without paying their tithe to the boys in Redmond? Regards Craig US-CERT ADVISES SWITCHING BROWSERS In light of a recent announcement about an "extremely critical" security vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE), the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has issued a warning advising computer users to stop using Microsoft's browser. US-CERT is a nonprofit formed in September 2003 by the Department of Homeland Security and the public and private sectors to improve computer security preparedness and response. According to the US-CERT notice, there are "significant vulnerabilities in technologies relating to the IE domain/zone security model, the DHTML object model, MIME-type determination, and ActiveX." The IE bug allows hackers to install spyware on users' computers without any action on the part of the user. The notice goes on to say that, particularly for browsing untrusted sites, use of another browser is an effective way to avoid the security risks mentioned. Internet News, 29 June 2004 http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3374931 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.