58 replies to this topic

[J273]

Is firefox as safe as IE for online shopping/banking .etc  Thanks

[12speed]

J273, on Feb 9 2005, 13:19, said:

Is firefox as safe as IE for online shopping/banking .etc  Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Firefox i hear is safer bin around longer i use it and i think it is much better live news feeds (Modaco supports) tab browsing weather pulgins..........and it seems faster

10/10 in my book

[ShaneBoyd]

I was considering making the switch to Firfox as well.  I've heard a lot of people talking about how much they like it.  I know nothing about it's security though.

[J273]

So is at safe as IE with like online shopping/Banking as thats the only thing im worried about,Thanks

[Disco Stu]

Let's put it this way; the US Government recommends you use a different browser than IE for security reasons and Firefox is raved about by those that know about these things.

[ShaneBoyd]

Why does the US governemnt say you should use something other than IE?

[pwest13]

I use Firefox and recommend it, it is far superior to IE.

[Disco Stu]

ShaneBoyd, on Feb 9 2005, 18:00, said:

Why does the US governemnt say you should use something other than IE?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can't remember the exact quotes, but it was probably the Homeland Security department looking at IT security issues. Basically they evaluated IE and found so many security holes that they advised US citizens not to use it at all. Given the importance of MS to the US economy that's one hell of a statement !

Tabbed browsing on Firefox is another good reason for using it.

[ShaneBoyd]

That must have made Bill Gates rather unhappy.  I wonder what they will do to upgrade IE.  I will probably give Firefox a shot.

[Monolithix]

ShaneBoyd, on Feb 9 2005, 18:00, said:

Why does the US governemnt say you should use something other than IE?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Because they are idiots.  Microsoft releases patches for any security hole long before it is exploited (you _do_ have automatic updates turned on in Windows don't you?).

Other than that Firefox uses exactly the same encryption methods and algorthms as IE (128bit SSL).  So banking etc is just as secure on either.

The only issue is end users blindly clicking "ok" to any window or dialogue box that pops up without reading it.  Like with anything in life, if you agree to something without reading the small print then you get everything you deserve.

I've been using firefox for a while now (since Xmasish time) and its a decent browser, tabbed browsing is a nice feature, but i hardly use it tbh.  And generally it creates more hgassles than its worth as there are still many (large) sites that do not fully support Firefox.

All in all, try it, see what you think.  In terms of anything other than how you get on with it and the odd annoying incompatable webpage the browsing experience is exactly the same....

[beersoft]

i use firefox, but ive been a fan of netscape from before version 1 (yep, before tables and frames and you could get away with the blink tag)

ie is getting better, and from a webdesign point of view you can get away with sloppy coding, but its full of bugs


later

Owen

[ShaneBoyd]

I've never been a fan of netscape though.  if you like netscape and Firefox, will I not like Firefox?

[bdmoore]

Both have their benefits.  Firefox does remind me of the old Netscape browsers (I'm sure it shares the same basic components??) - although tabbed browsing is cool, I stick to IE cos while it may not be 100% standards compliant, a lot more sites are optimised for it and you can get better functionality.

As for security, as Mono says they both use similar technologies and a browser is only as secure as it's user!!

Give it a try and see for yourself, it's personal preference really!

[J273]

I think i will be switching to firefox,But i have my computer set up so that my cookies/cache/History got to my second hard drive,Do all browsers point there cookies .etc to the same place as IE as id like to have my cookies with firefox to the second hard drive if you get what i mean,Thanks

[tudor]

Isn't Firefox safer just because it has scripting and ActiveX disabled or limited by default? That's what I know - correct me if I'm wrong. In this case, Internet explorer is as safe if you increase the security level to disable any malicious code to run on your machine.
I've installed only once Firefox, and it was on a Linux machine. It crashed a couple of times, so I decided that I'm wasting my time with it.

[Monolithix]

Again, thats nothing special.  IE on XP SP2 blocks it by default and prompts the used discretely if they want to continue.  Pre-XP you can change the security settings to stop it running them by default...

[tudor]

@ Monolithix:
I meant "by default" as in "the default initial settings you get after installing the software". There are lots of people who don't know how to customize the settings or what they mean, so they just use the "defaults"

[ShaneBoyd]

I'll probably give Firefox a shot once the weekend rolls around, but I just don't have the time to fiddle with it during the week.  I hope I like it b/c I'm getting sick of IE.

[Imacellphone]

from what i hear....its just as safe if not more so.  i use both....but i think you're fine using it.

[ShaneBoyd]

Is it hard to get setup initially, or is it really easy to get going on?