fire_storm Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 Just been wondering but can spyware and viruses, trojan horses, worms atuomatically download themselfs and install itself on your computer if you use IE a lot. Or did micrsoft fix those problems? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Symeon Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 Make sure that you have most recent updates for Windows and preferably service pack 2 if you are running windows XP as it has new features to control Active-X downloads and the pop-up blocker works great. The key is good AV software no matter what you run. I use Norton or Mcafee and I have heard great things about Panda but have never tried it myself. If you don't want to pay for it you can check out AVG but I have had mixed results with free AV programs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nedlinin Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 youll still have some problems like that with IE... itll always be the most targetted -- its the most used Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
godmode117 Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 youll still have some problems like that with IE... itll always be the most targetted -- its the most used 473342[/snapback] dont forget outlook Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire_storm Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 I don t use ie its just I have been looking for some reasons why its not good I am tried of a lot of tech people saying only use IE because they other broswers don t work well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoLoDreaM Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 MICROSOFT....... FIX SOMETHING? hah! what a joke.... make the Firefox switch! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTSticky Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 Bah, heathen naysayers. Microsoft made everything good in computing, brought it to the common user and made it affordable. In any case, since they have the largest market share, IE will always be targeted most heavily. Get a spyware blocker (www.microsoft.com/spyware) and keep your patches current, your firewall up and your antivirus software up to date.. or do all that AND use firefox. Both combos are pretty safe. People rob banks "Because that's where the money is at" and they target IE because "That's where the users are at" - It's not totally MS fault. Why write a mac virus to infect 10 users when you can write a windows virus to infect 10 million. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeremy Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 As long as you have to latest updates, and don't go to any malicious sites...then you should be fine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ste Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 I think norton only has like 4 registered viruses for macs, macs don't even need Anti Virus. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nedlinin Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 I think norton only has like 4 registered viruses for macs, macs don't even need Anti Virus. 473631[/snapback] lol Id believe it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3bruts1d Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 As long as you have to latest updates, and don't go to any malicious sites...then you should be fine. 473419[/snapback] That, and you don't have a modem or NIC connected and the power on your computer is unplugged. --------- Truth is, whether targeted directly or allowed via a partnership with Microsoft, MS is a heavily targeted object for Spyware, Malware, Viruses, and other exploits. As long as you use their products, you will be at risk. Since IE was the topic point, we'll focus in on that. There has not been a new version of IE in something like 4 years. There have been patches to fix some of IEs problems, but even a patch will start to leak over time. Even when a patch is issued, it still comes months after the problem was first found (or worse used). IE6 still has many known medium and high risk issues that were identified in 2003 and 2004 that have not been fixed. These include DoS attacks, revealing of sensitive information, and even system access. - Issues that firewalls, antivirus scanners, and spyware programs cannot always block, detect, or prevent. MS has created their own problem by further integrating IE into your operating system. The same program that is full of holes that you use to browse the internet is also the same program used to browse your personal and sensitive files on your computer. Sure, MS has created some (or bought) some new tools for Windows XP to "help" protect your system. While it sounds good, its really a poker face with some smoke and mirrors thrown in. First MS has not created their own antispyware program, they purchased another company and have rebranded the application. While decent, it is owned by the devil so-to-speak. Regardless, one antispyware program is not enough. Recent test have shown that no one program successfully identifies more than 70% (I think it was lower) of the known malware. For best protection, use a number of scanners and scan regularly. Most people will suggest S&D and Ad-Aware. The MS Firewall added via XPSP2 is a joke. It is about as useful as trying to gather water in a mesh bucket. Everything gets through it. As reported on just about any site that you visit, MS likes to "phone home" about a lot of things. Search for a file? Yup, let's phone home. Listen to music with WMP? Yup, calling home again. Why do you think they are sending data back to MS servers? It's not for your protection, I can tell you that. Back to IE. I'm not going to say FF or Opera is what you should use. I'll let you make that discission based off of the information available. Mozilla Firefox 1.x Advisories Opera 7.x Advisories Opera 8.x Advisories MS IE6 Advisories If you notice, Opera 7.x fixed all advisories, while Opera 8.x has none at all (granted it was just released). I think norton only has like 4 registered viruses for macs, macs don't even need Anti Virus. 473631[/snapback] Isn't that also the total number of games available for a Mac? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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