Stop Using Internet Explorer: French Govt To Citizens

Following in the footsteps of its German counterpart, the French government advises its citizens to stop using Internet Explorer until critical security vulnerability in the browser is resolved.


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Tuesday, January 19, 2010: The French government has issued an advisory to computer users, recommending that they switch to a different Web browser, such as Firefox or Google Chrome. France's move follows that of the German government, which recently discovered that Internet Explorer contained a dangerous security flaw that could be exploited by hackers and cybercriminals.




The version of the browser vulnerable to the attack mounted on Google is Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), which was first released in 2000 and is standard on Windows XP. Despite its age and vulnerability to hacking, IE6 is still the most widely used browser in the world, ahead of more secure versions, and rivals' alternatives, such as the free Firefox, Opera or Safari browsers.

Microsoft admitted that its Internet Explorer browser was the weak link in recent attacks by hackers who hacked into e-mail accounts of human rights activists in China. But it said that the German government had gone too far in its over-reaction, and that general users were not at risk.

But that did not stop the French government issuing a bulletin through Certa, a government agency responsible for managing and protecting against cyber threats. The bulletin said that all versions of Internet Explorer were affected by the security flaw, and suggested people use an alternative browser. However, security experts say that computer users should only use a different Web browser if they are confident they know what they're doing.

IT security and data protection firm Sophos has commented on the French government's advice. "My advice is to only switch from Internet Explorer if you really know what you are doing with the browser you're swapping to," said Graham Cluley, senior security advisor, Sophos. "Otherwise it might be a case of 'better the devil you know'. Every browser has its security issues, so switching may remove this current risk but could expose you to another. My guess is that Microsoft will be working hard to release an out-of-band patch for the vulnerability. They will be keen to fix the serious security problem before more damage is done to Internet Explorer's reputation."

Microsoft sought to allay users' fear about the risks of using Internet Explorer in a blog posting on Sunday, saying, "We are only seeing a very limited number of targeted attacks against a small subset of corporations. The attacks that we have seen to date, including public proof-of-concept exploit code, are only effective against Internet Explorer 6."

The British government and armed forces, however, are to continue their widespread use of the version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser in spite of the French and German governments advisory to people to stop using it.