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Linux Pipeline Newsletter www.LinuxPipeline.com WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2006 In This Issue: - Spyware Getting Nowhere With Firefox Users - Fresh U.S. Outrage Ahead Of China Internet Hearings - Exploit Appears For Recently-Patched Firefox Bug - More News... - Review: The Great Browser Battle - Torvalds Stands Firm Against GPLv3 Draft - As The Google Turns: From Desktop To Demo - More Picks... Join InformationWeek for a FREE, live TechWebCast that will provide IT professionals with insights as to what the biggest pain points facing IT today are; what technologies are being used in most data centers today and what technologies are being planned for implementation. Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 11:00 AM-12:00 PM PT / 2:00-3:00 PM ET "http://www.techweb.com/webcasts/strategicdata030806" ----------------------------------------- Editor's Note: Insecurities Occasionally, I have to pass up my usual, long-playing newsletter rant, and run instead with the quick-and-dirty version. Usually, it's because there's an editor looking for me, with a deadline in one hand and a big stick in the other. It hasn't come to that yet, but that's likely to change any minute: We're trying to prep the next in a series of Firefox how-to features I've been writing (Part One was the recent "must-have Firefox extensions" article), and crunch time is here. Fortunately, this week's news that Internet Explorer users are 21 times as likely to pick up spyware than Firefox users, when comparing current, unpatched versions of both browsers, is making my job easier than usual this week. This article did a good job of refocusing my attention on a very important point. With all of the hullabaloo over Internet Explorer 7 (and yes, it is pretty darned good), it's easy sometimes to forget that IE 7 is not shipping software, nor will it be shipping software for several months at the very least. And until it ships, Internet Explorer 6 remains what it has always been: the most dangerous desktop application most people will ever voluntarily install on their PCs. Of course, security studies, even those delivering results that are about as subtle as a Gallagher concert, pale by comparison to hard, cold, empirical evidence. And for that, we're lucky enough to have Secunia on the scene with numbers like these: some of the more interesting 2005 year-end security benchmarks for both Firefox and Internet Explorer: Mozilla Firefox 1.x: - Total security advisories: 22 - Status: 95 percent fully patched; 5 percent partially patched - Criticality: 68 percent Moderately (or less); 27 percent Highly; 5 percent Extremely Microsoft Internet Explorer 6: - Total security advisories: 17 - Status: 41 percent unpatched; 47 percent fully patched; 6 percent workaround; 6 percent partially patched. - Criticality: 54 percent Moderately (or less); 35 percent Highly; 12 percent Extremely. Bonus fact: One of the unpatched IE flaws is a "highly critical" buffer overflow issue -- from August, 2003. It's amazing how easily this point gets lost: A patched vulnerability isn't a vulnerability at all. Have a good week.
Matt McKenzie
Don't let future editions of Linux Pipeline Newsletter go missing. Take a moment to add the newsletter's address to your anti-spam whitelist: linuxed@techwire.com If you're not sure how to do that, ask your administrator or ISP. Or check your anti-spam utility's documentation. Thanks. Top Linux News Spyware Getting Nowhere With Firefox Users Fresh ammo for Firefox fans: New academic research finds that Internet Explorer 6 users are up to 21 times more likely than Firefox users to end up with a spyware-infected PC.
Fresh U.S. Outrage Ahead Of China Internet Hearings
Exploit Appears For Recently-Patched Firefox Bug
Sun To Publish Draft For Open-Source DRM Specs
EU Commission Denies Microsoft Deadline Extension
Yahoo Builds Out Firefox 1.5 Toolbar
New Google Desktop Grabs More Of Microsoft's Turf
Sun Patches 7 Critical Java Runtime Bugs Editor's Picks Review: The Great Browser Battle The fur is going to fly as four tech experts go head to head with four leading Web browsers -- Firefox, IE7, Maxthon, and Opera. We'll let each contender take its best shot, and then we'll let you decide who takes the prize.
Torvalds Stands Firm Against GPLv3 Draft
As The Google Turns: From Desktop To Demo
Wanted: Linux Mobile Apps, Laptop Advances
Is AJAX A Security Risk? Probably--Get Over It Cast Your Vote Now! This is the final week for our poll asking what you think about the Sony BMG Entertainment case and its possible impact on the use of digital rights management (DRM) technology. Will Sony's deal settling the class-action lawsuits filed against it scare the rest of the industry straight? Don't miss out -- cast your vote! Get More Out Of Linux Pipeline Try Linux Pipeline's RSS Feed Linux Pipeline's content is available via RSS feed: Get RSS link. The feed is also auto-discoverable to many RSS readers from the Linux Pipeline home page. Note: RSS feeds are not viewable in most Web browsers. You need an RSS reader, Web-based service, or plug-in to view RSS. Find out which RSS readers the Pipeline editors recommend.
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Join InformationWeek for a FREE, live TechWebCast that will provide IT professionals with insights as to what the biggest pain points facing IT today are; what technologies are being used in most data centers today and what technologies are being planned for implementation. Wednesday, March 8, 2006 - 11:00 AM-12:00 PM PT / 2:00-3:00 PM ET "http://www.techweb.com/webcasts/strategicdata030806" ----------------------------------------- We take your privacy very seriously. Please review our Privacy Policy.
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