Browser | What Makes Your Browser Insecure?

Archive for April, 2011

What Makes Your Browser Insecure?

April 28th, 2011 | Author: Browser

Every time browsers update to newer versions, they claim to be more secure than previous versions and their competitors. Most people like the idea of being safe while using a certain browser because of all the security issues that there are. Is using a certain browser over another actually going to increase security?

For the most part browser to browser it does not matter. Internet Explorer has problems because it’s so integrated into the operating system but of the other browsers they are all about equally secure. The issue actually isn’t the choice of browser at all as there is a deeper issue to consider.

The big issue that causes the most security issues are the browser plugins. These are things like Java and Flash that almost every computer and every browser use basically the exact same ones. If there is a Flash vulnerability, then every browser that is using Flash will be equally insecure.

To maintain security it’s important to update your plugins. You can attempt to use alternative plugins to Java or Flash but most have enormous performance issues and aren’t ready for actual use at this moment in time. If you do see an update, it is good computer sense to download and install these as soon as possible.

Another alternative to consider is to use one browser that has the plugins installed on site that you know are safe and use a secondary browser to surf that does not have Java or Flash installed. This way those insecurities won’t be able to effect you at all. It may seem a bit complicated but it can help. Using the browser without the plugins will be safer on pages that you aren’t sure that you can trust.

If you want to maximize your browser security, be sure to follow these steps.

Originally published here.

Roger Mcpherson