Study: Firefox is the Most Vulnerable Browser
Posted 11/10/09 at 12:45:15 PM by Paul Lilly
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It turns out our favorite browser might also be the most susceptible to security breaches. According to application security vendor Cenzic, Firefox leads the way in terms of total vulnerabilities, accounting for 44 percent of all browser vulnerabilities reported in the first half of 2009.
Coming in second is Apple's Safari browser, which accounted for 35 percent. And what about everyone's favorite whipping browser, Internet Explorer? A comparatively low 15 percent. The Opera faithful will be stoked to learn that their favorite browser was the least vulnerable of the bunch with just a 6 percent share.
As to why Firefox's numbers were so high, Cenzic said it was a combination of things.
"They've gotten more traction as a browser, which is good for them and the more you get used the more exposure you have. As well a fair amount of the vulnerabilities have come by way of plug-ins," noted Lars Ewe, CTO of Cenzic.
In other words, Firefox's biggest strength -- customization through plug-ins -- might also be its biggest weakness. However, it's important to note that just because the tweakable browser had the most vulnerabilities, it doesn't mean that Firefox users were more at risk. According to Ewe, Ceznic looked at all reported vulnerabilities and made no distinction between a zero day bug and less serious security holes.
dissapointed in MPC
Submitted by Gailim on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 5:07am
come on MPC, why didn't you take a look at the actual report critera? do you know what this study is based on? number of reported venurerabitlities. so the way to get your browser at the top of this vaunted list is to never fix bugs.
oh, and the biggest kicker? study funded by microsoft
reportingfail
Firefox Plug-In != Firefox
Submitted by schwit on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 4:39pm
If the vulnerability is not in Mozilla code then it's not a Firefox vulnerability.
Hold on...
Submitted by 1337Goose on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 7:34pm
Well technically yes, you're right.
But let's not forget that Google Chrome eschewed plug-ins and therefore increased browser security, and Opera widgets are so watered down that they don't even integrate with the browser.
The tight browser integration that Firefox is often praised for also poses a security risk that should be taken into account when assessing the security of any given browser, no?
~Goose
MicroSoft
Submitted by zbeckerd on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 11:50am
I wonder what percent of the security plug-in flaws were a result of the microsoft plug-in that the user did not have to approve. You know the one they just got around to removing after 8 months....
As an Opera user I'm pretty
Submitted by dag1992 on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 11:17am
As an Opera user I'm pretty happy. As for Firefox, as more people use it, the more attack prone it will become.
Submitted by NebsiNsaNe on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 11:10am
Pretty impressive that IE finally isnt the security joke it once was. Now if only they could make the dang thing faster.
On another note, where's Chrome in all of this? It would've been nice to see whrere it stood on the list of the browser giants.
To be honest, if it were as
Submitted by dj-anon on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 11:22am
To be honest, if it were as fast as Safari or Opera, I'd be using IE8 all the time.
double post
Submitted by demosthenes on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 10:56am
double post
____________________
.a nut for a jar of tunA
Submitted by demosthenes on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 10:54am
Does this take into account whether or not the vulnerabilities have been addressed? I don't personally consider reporting vulnerabilities a bad thing. Low vulnerability reporting doesn't mean that the vulnerabilities don't exist, just that no one knows about them, and therefore cannot work on patching them.
____________________
.a nut for a jar of tunA
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