Attack code out for old Firefox bug

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Successful Exploits

Hi, NonZealot.

You said:

If Firefox has critical vulnerabilities and IE has critical vulnerabilities, the only possible explanation for the proliferation of successful IE exploits has nothing to do with the code and everything to do with the users.

I think you're not thinking about this the right way. You also have to think about the security models of Firefox and IE. When FireFox runs, it runs as a separate application, agnostic in terms of the OS. (i.e., it runs the same way in Linux as it does in Windows as it does on the Mac). On the other hand, IE is hard-coded into Windows, so whatever flaws the OS has, IE picks up, and vice versa.

Then, there's the issue of corporate accountability. In the open source model that Firefox follows, there's no real reason to hold back on releasing a fix. As soon as it's developed, it goes out the door (whether the door in question belongs to one of the developers or one of the many contributors). On the other hand, when IE has a bug, there's lots of money and corporate reputation at stake, so the fixes are much slower in coming, and Microsoft isn't very eager to let people know about it until there is one.

Finally, you have to realize that some of IE's exploits are self-proliferating, in the sense that you can get attacked through IE and have your Outlook slam other users. That doesn't happen in Firefox, because Firefox doesn't have the same hooks into Windows.

Posted by: bhartman36   Posted on: 12/14/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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