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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul



Wednesday, March 21, 2007

For Security Pros, Firefox Goes Head-To-Head With Microsoft's IE7

InformationWeek:
Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser may have the lion's share of the general market, but when it comes to security professionals, Mozilla's Firefox open source browser is an even contender, according to a security survey released Monday.

Security-minded people also were quicker to try out Internet Explorer version 7, researchers with the SANS Institute found, though it didn't appear to sway Firefox fans, and the general public quickly is catching up in IE7 adoption.

"Security people are overall more aware of the flaws in Explorer and more likely to play with other browsers," says Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer at the SANS Institute and chief technology officer for the Internet Storm Center. "More common users might not feel comfortable trying out something new. Not as confident."

While IE generally garners about 79% of the browser market, Firefox is just as popular as IE when it comes to security types, the survey shows. Frantzen's survey also shows that that 50/50 stat has held pretty steady over the past six months.

"It isn't that Firefox is really more secure per say, but [Mozilla is] typically patched faster," says Ullrich.
I've been using and advocating Firefox since it was called Phoenix, which was years ago. I'll never look back, and I've even taken up Firefox on the Mac, after years of holding on, alternatively, with Safari and Camino. What makes Firefox superior to these browsers, frankly, is Inline Find. I can't stand dialog box-based Find tools anymore.

You can find out more about the software I use regularly on the What I Use page on the SuperSite.

Speaking of which, Firefox 2.0.0.3 is out today.

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