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US Agency Advises Against Using Internet Explorer

 - Saturday 1st May 2004

The Computer Emergency Response Team or CERT which advises the US Government has warned that users should stop using Interet Explorer for surfing the web. The worlds most popular browser, used by over 94 of all those who access the internet has been described as being riddled with security flaws and is vulnerable against hackers and snoopers.

A number of leading organisations have also backed the move away from Internet Explorer as a recent investigation has shown thatcriminals can exploit the program to record keystrokes inputted by the users, so that they may steal credit card and other personal information and use the details for their own gain.

Johannes Ulrich, CTO for Sans Internet Security stated that the recently exposed flaws were A wakeup call for users to switch to another browser. He continued to say To keep on using Internet Explorer is like playing the lottery.

A Microsoft spokesman has said that The security of our customers' computers and networks is a top priority and we have been working roundtheclock to further target the criminals targeting Inernet Explorer users. However, experts say that there are at least 30 further potential flaws ripe for hackers to attack.

Highly recommended and free alternatives to Internet Explorer are Netscape, available at www.netscape.com and Opera which can be downloaded from www.opera.com. Both of these programs look and feel very similar to IE but also include popup blockers and are much less preyed upon as highly skilled hackers try to expose Bill Gates.

The main problem for companies' web sites is thatmainy of them fail to meet accepted internet standards which means a web site designed to work in IE will not display properly, or at all in alternative browsers.



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