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Are you using something other than Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) for your web browser? A growing number of you are, and Microsoft does not like it one bit. In fact, if you go visit their promo site, you can receive “Free stuff from sites you love” if you will just cross over to the dark side, so to speak.
Here’s the link to the “Beauty of the Web” site… HERE
Sites represented are Slacker Radio, AOL Radio, Grooveshark, hulu, Flixter, Fandango, ticketmaster, vimeo, zynga and Pandora.
Of course, you have to be using IE to take advantage of the offers. The process is to drag the icon to your taskbar to pin it there, then share the information on Twitter or Facebook.
Mac OS X users will have to run IE 9 in a virtual machine in order to take advantage of this…
A couple weeks ago I was watching a conversation about the popularity of certain devices for browsing and thought I would pull out some recent information about our own website, http://www.HomelandSecureIT.com…
Here’s a look at our site for July 1st until August 1st broken down by browser and platform:
Homeland Secure IT Browser Stats
Other than the super-high bounce rate, we see some important information…
Internet Explorer running Microsoft Windows is just darn popular! Followed by Firefox and then Chrome, also on Windows… In fact, they account for about 80 percent of all traffic…
Up next is Safari & Firefox on the Mac… And then down a bit is Chrome on the Mac. Mac is the apparent source of 9.38% of traffic to our site (And less than 5% of our business).
The iPad viewers and the Android viewers accounted for 2% and 1.2% respectively… So a number of people were sitting on the toilet while surfing our site.
Here’s a further break down of mobile user specs:
Homeland Secure IT mobile browser info
iPad, iPhone & iPod dominates this category for sure, with Android 2nd, and Blackberry 3rd… Windows made a horrible showing… And what’s up with Palm? Someone is using that? hehe
I compared these stats to July 2010 and found Android usage has come up considerably, but iPad maintained a steady lead even then.
Looking at the percentage of Windows versus other platforms, Windows has lost only a two percentage points in a year, and those were taken up by mobile devices.
It will be interesting to see what this looks like in another year. I’m guessing mobile device usage will continue to grow, maybe even at an accelerated rate due to the large numbers of new tablets being introduced, and smartphones replacing older cell phones…
What are your experiences with your own website/s?
Homeland Secure IT Alert
Homeland Secure IT Alert for Monday, April 11th, 2011
You’ve waited a whole month for this, and Microsoft has not let you down. Updates galore are ‘a comin’ tomorrow, April 12th, 2011.
The Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification states that this Patch Tuesday will be a big one. A total of 17 fixes, addressing 64 security vulnerabilities are there for your enjoyment and they cover just about everything, from current versions of Microsoft Windows Operating Systems to Microsoft Office and even Microsoft Windows Server PowerPoint web app.
There are 9 critical, 8 important and two which address information disclosure/privilege threats.
One important update is the cumulative fix for the Internet Explorer browser which will address every supported Windows OS and covers IE 6, IE 7 and IE 8.
Microsoft will be sponsoring a webcast on April 13th at 11AM Pacific here: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032455069&EventCategory=4
Should you have issues or concerns about these updates or any Microsoft Security or Support questions in the Greenville / Upstate, SC area, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Homeland Secure IT Alert
Google Chrome is Gaining Ground Fast
Are you still using Internet Explorer? The majority of people are that hit our website and most others that track this information, but, as you can see from the graph on the right, alternative browsers are gaining ground.
Microsoft Internet Explorer, like it or not, is the de facto “standard” that web sites and web applications are built to support. There are many reasons for that, and obviously the main one is that IE is shipped with Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, and Microsoft Windows dominates as the OS of choice for both individuals and businesses.
As Apple Mac OS, Linux and other operating systems become a bit more mainstream, the alternative browsers that these systems ship with will cut into the Microsoft IE market share, but there is more going on here than a switch to new operating systems.
You are probably way ahead of me on this, but due to concerns over security, there seems to be a mass exodus away from IE. We’ve heard from our clients that they are worried about the seemingly endless flow of vulnerability announcements from Microsoft and then the subsequent patches that must be installed in order to ensure they can safely browse the web.
That, combined with the fact that other browsers are offering what feels like a faster browsing experience, a slew of new features, additional plugins or addons not available on IE, and a shiny new look makes it easy to see why the IE market share has dropped and Chrome has come up.
Chrome recently added some Active Directory integration making the browser even better than before for System Administrators.
Surprisingly, Mozilla Firefox, the second most popular browser, has actually been declining in popularity along side IE, while Safari and Opera have remained pretty constant in the low end of the scale.
With Chrome breaking into the ten percent market share, and pulling away from Apple’s Safari rapidly, it appears that Chrome could overtake Firefox in the next 12 to 18 months. Very interesting information.
Click on the graph for the link to the original article and more information.
No matter which browser you use, remember, there ARE security flaws. Chrome is not impervious to exploits, so, please remember to browse responsibly! Use current anti-virus / anti-malware, and common sense. (IE, Don’t install addons, plugins or codecs etc that you do not trust).
If you would like to discuss security concerns or whether a particular browser may be right for your business here in Greenville or the Upstate, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Homeland Secure IT Alert
Secure IT Alert for Monday, January 31, 2011
Microsoft has announced in Security Advisory 2501696 that they are investigating a potential vulnerability that may exist in ALL current supported editions of Microsoft Windows (Including Windows 7, Server 2008, Vista, XP and Server 2003). In fact, the only version that may not be affected would be the Server Core installations.
According to the bulletin, Microsoft is aware of the “proof-of-concept” code that has been released, so they are looking into it further, though they have seen no “active exploitation of the vulnerability”.
MHTML is the culprit and apparently, it IS possible (under certain conditions) for the vulnerability to allow an attack to inject client-side scripts in the response of a web request run in the context of the user’s Internet Explorer. The script could then spoof content, disclose personal information or emulate any action that the user could actually take on the affected web site. (IE, make selections, input data, etc).
What can you do to protect yourself? According to MS, you could lock down MHTML, set your internet security zone settings to “high” to block ActiveX controls and Active Scripting (in IE, Tools, Internet Options, Security, Internet, Security level for this zone and set slider to High). You could also set IE to prompt before running “Active Scripting” or disable “Active Scripting” all together in the Internet and Local intranet security zone. (In IE, Tools, Internet Options, Security, Internet, CUSTOM LEVEL, then under Settings, find the Scripting section and set Active Scripting to “Prompt” or “Disable”. Same under Local Intranet.). You can then add sites that you trust to the IE Trusted sites zone.
Use of an anti-virus software package like Trend Micro Titanium or Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security which has the ability to watch web traffic is HIGHLY recommended. And of course, you could use an alternative browser, such as Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox… Many firewalls and security appliances from vendors like Cisco, WatchGuard and SonicWALL have the ability to block this type of traffic as well.
If you have questions or concerns about your personal computer or an entire business network in the Greenville / Upstate, SC area, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Homeland Secure IT Alert
Browser Wars!
I normally don’t weigh in on the browser wars, as each browser has its own place. For instance, there simply is no replacement for Microsoft Internet Explorer if you want near 100% compatibility with every site in the world.
Obviously, each alternate browser has a strong point, such as speed, or installation size, or security, but each browser also has downsides that sometimes keep people, especially administrators from adopting something other than IE.
One such downside is that in many cases, for an administrator to deploy an alternative browser such as Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome, they have been forced to install at each machine, and for each user of that machine, or employ little “tricks”. Once installed, they then have an update and management issue where they don’t know why Bob’s browser doesn’t have the same extensions as Mary’s browser without checking it out (remotely or physically visiting the machine generally because it is faster than actually talking to Bob) to resolve the situation.
Recently Google has created a new installer designed for enterprise use. It allows a system administrator to utilize active directory in a Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 corporate domain to push the browser out to PCs (Windows XP Professional, Windows 7 Pro), control which extensions are used, lock down a proxy server, insure all installations are up to date, etc. Policies control many factors (the list can be found here).
If you would like to check out Google Chrome, it can be downloaded from http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html?msi=true
Google Chrome may not be able to replace all aspects of IE, however, from the looks of it, it would appear that they are trying.
Should you need more information about the security or features of this browser, or how you can implement it site-wide at your organization, you can call upon us at 864.990.4748 in Greenville / Upstate SC, or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Trend Micro Browser Guard can protect you from "Zero Day" Exploits
Our friends at Trend Micro Labs are watching out for you, even if you opt to not purchase their incredible anti-virus software!
If you are using Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8 you could fall victim to what is known as ”zero day exploit”, which is simply a hole that is found by the bad guys and a means for taking advantage of that security flaw is devised and deployed before the good guys can prepare for it.
The easiest application to exploit is Microsoft IE, because it is the most popular browser currently, and we just can’t stop clicking on links. We are addicted to clicking every link we find, and should one of those be a malicious site, we run the risk of becoming a victim if we do not have the latest patches, and sometimes with these zero day exploits, there IS NO PATCH.
Browser Guard 2010 from Trend Micro may help prevent your IE from leading you into trouble. As mentioned, it is a free download and works with IE 6, 7 and 8. If you are using an x64 (64 bit) system, you are out of luck though.
The following is extracted from their site:
Trend Micro Browser Guard is an easy to use browser plug-in, which prevents known and unknown web threats. Zero-day attacks such as Aurora and Hydraq can be proactively blocked by Browser Guard, which detects and prevents behavior associated with these types of threats.
Cybercriminals often use malicious JavaScript inserted into web pages, where attacks can take place silently, without any visible effect. Browser Guard also protects you from such attacks by analyzing and subsequently blocking malicious JavaScript. For the most advanced and efficient detection, Browser Guard communicates with the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, bringing you the latest protection when you surf the web.
Key Benefits
- Protects against zero day exploits
- Detects buffer-overflow and heap-spray attacks
- Protects against execution of shell code
- Analyzes and protects against malicious JavaScript
- Connects with Trend Micro Smart Protection Network to maximize detections
CLICK HERE to go to the Trend Micro Browser Guard page.
If you are using Chrome, Firefox or another alternative browser, you can still become a victim, just not as easily due to the fact that these browsers are not being targeted as frequently.
If you have questions or require assistance, please call 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com – We offer affordable and fast virus removal and cleanup in Greenville / Upstate SC (If you suspect you have a virus, click here, then select the free online scan)
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 finally going to die!
Internet Explorer 6 has served us well. So well that people are still using it instead of the updated versions or the alternative browsers that are available. Estimates are that IE6 has a share of the browser market of around 20-25%, but a review of our own web logs which keep tabs on which browsers are used to view our site indicate that of the Explorer users only 6.69% viewing our site are using IE6. ( 18.4% are using IE 7 and 74.91 are using IE 8 )
That said, IE6 is also full of holes that cannot be easily fixed, nor is it worth it to MS to try to maintain IE6 when IE8 addresses these issues. So upgrade your browser… Upgrade to IE8, or try an alternative browser like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc… Just dump IE6! Need more incentive? Many websites have planned for the demise of IE6. They will no longer offer support for it soon. And Microsoft has pledged to kill off IE6 themselves just this week.
Here is an entertaining link from Microsoft Australia about IE6, which says “You wouldn’t drink milk that was past its expiration date” – Gotta admit, that’s a great point!
If you require help in installing a new browser or want to discuss this further, email me at johnh@homelandsecureit.com or call us at 864-990-4748 – Or optionally, reply to this post.
Have a great Memorial Day Weekend with your family. Please remember that if you are an American, many people have fought and died for your freedom!
It is (way past) time to let your old Internet Explorer go! What’s the hold up on your end? Now I understand you don’t like change, and that you know where everything is on your current browser, but I assure you that within minutes of installing IE 8, you will be back in the groove and everything you do now will be even easier with features liked tabbed browsing, etc.
Why is it so important that you update? Because the old versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer are loaded with “holes” that open you and your system up to one exploit after another. Not that installing the latest IE is going to give you 100% protection, however doing so will at least protect you 100% more than the old versions. Several sites have even announced they will stop supporting older versions of IE, so one day soon you may find that you can’t even browse to your favorite site if you do not opt to upgrade.
What about alternative browsers? There are a slew of them out there, and many people find that using one will give them a better browsing experience than Microsoft’s offering. All I can say is to download and try one of them and if you like it, use it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
If you require help in upgrading your browser, or just have questions, shoot me a note, or call our office.
For more information about the latest doom & gloom for old versions of IE: http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-warns-of-new-zero-day-exploit-for-internet-explorer
