FireFox continues gains against IE

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Let's look at IE's default settings....

I just re-installed XP Pro for a customer and applied SP1-a. (SP2 breaks their proprietary database system which they are NOT going to replace.)

IE's settings most relevant to security and spyware default to:

-> Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins: enabled (without promting)
-> Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting: enabled (without prompting)
-> Allow meta refresh: enabled
-> Launching programs and files in an IFRAME: prompt
-> Navigate sub-frames across different domains: enabled (without prompting)
-> Userdata persistence: enabled
-> Active Scripting: enabled (without prompting)
-> Allow paste operations via script: enabled (without prompting)
-> Scripting of Java applets: enabled (without prompting)
-> Install on Demand (other than IE): enabled

These are defaults with the medium security setting (also the default). They have apparently been chosen to keep the user from having those annoying warnings that some website (maybe not even the one you are visiting) is trying to change settings, install software, run a program, etc.

Granted, some of these settings are fairly benign and actually convenient in and of themselves, but there are bad combinations. For example, meta refresh is nice when it redirects you to a website's new address automatically or updates a page with volatile data such as stock quotes. But when it is used in a frame that points to a program file, this program will run on your computer without you even knowing it if running programs in a frame is enabled. You should get a prompt with the default settings in this case, but if you are in the habit of clicking 'OK' to get these annoying messages out of your way, it runs. If you don't want to click 'Cancel' because it might break something, it runs.

Good luck to the typical home user (not a technical person) to even find where to change these settings, much less understand them.

Posted by: Hugh Jass   Posted on: 01/22/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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