Is Firefox As Safe As Internet Explorer?

[DesignGuy]

When I read this topic I laughed a little bit ... Detz's comment was funny. "Fire your security guy."

Firefox is blowing IE out of the water and more people are switching every day. Some people don't like change - and because IE comes pre-installed on every PC (which I can't stand) they just use it. Others don't know better.

Firefox Rox! Spread the word.

[DavidMort]

I think that Mozilla was made to be more secure than Explorer! Don`t listen to anybody just trust this fact

[StupidScript]

A quick touch up, as this thread is amazingly still alive ... !

There is no firm answer to the question asked. Each application's relative "safety" has more to do with the totality of the system it is running on than whether it is "secure" or not.

The "safety" of any application relies on (1) the way the application was developed, (2) the way the application communicates with the underlying operating system, (3) the additional helper applications (plugins, modules) installed by the user and (4) the habits of the person using the application.

This is not necessarily operating system-related ... this regards an application sitting on top of the operating system. Whether the operating system itself is "safe" or not is irrelevant ... as long as the application is doing its job of protecting the OS.

Internet Explorer is an integral part of Windows. You cannot uninstall it, because many of the bits of code that make up the application are used by many other applications and system processes. Removing Internet Explorer from your Windows installation will break it.

Firefox does not share that level of access to the operating system.

Because of these two facts, Internet Explorer is INHERENTLY more capable of inadvertently providing deep system access than any other web browser running on WINDOWS simply because no other web browser offers access to Windows' guts like MSIE does. Of course, MSIE running on a Mac does not have this tight integration with the OS, and has a completely different security profile.

There is a HUGE issue with Firefox, however, often lauded by many as "The Reason" they like to use it, and that is it's third party plugin developer culture. In almost every case (hardware problems aside), when Firefox crashes, it's because of a plugin. Plugins can be (and are) written by an amazingly wide variety of programmers with similar spread in skillsets. Some plugins are beautiful little pieces of work. Others should never be installed. Not only can a bad plugin cause your browser to crash and cause you to experience many other types of problems, but they can also provide an "attack vector" into your underlying subsystem ... not as deep as with MSIE, but deep enough to be able to exploit defects in your system below the application layer.

So the answer is: Browser applications are neither "safe" nor "not safe" ... they are simply applications which may be programmed well or poorly. Neither Firefox nor MSIE is programmed poorly. (Lots of Firefox (and other) plugins are programmed TERRIBLY.)

The nature of the Microsoft product and the level of integration it enjoys within the Windows ecosystem make it both a tempting target and a vector through which an attack can succeed with much greater success than it can with any other web browser.

A quick followup to my earlier post ...

Many companies simply do not allow a user to use anything other than what came with their system when they got hired. If a user installs Firefox on a system that doesn't have it, the IT/security people MUST clamp down on that and force the removal of the program because it is outside the scope of their security policies, and represents an unacceptable risk for the company. The company has made its security decisions, and a single user is not allowed to override those decisions on their whim. If it was MY company, I would roll out an alternate browser. But the OPs company had a policy that forbid the use of the alternative browser, and he's lucky he still has a job. Again, if it was MY company and a user started installing stuff on their own (not that they COULD in my company, but) they would be fired immediately, because (1) I cannot trust them to respect my company policies and (2) they do not feel the need to adhere to my company's protocols for such things. Okay, maybe one warning, but that's IT!

I don't agree with the OP's company's policies, but I can respect them.

By the way ... don't forget about Opera, Safari, Iron, Chrome and many other web browsers. They all have interesting features and are worth a look, if you are not satisfied with your current browser's performance.

[ChuckyDucky]

Originally Posted by _detz_

Fire your security guy. Firefox is more secure that Internet Explorer, I've never seen a company tell their employees to use IE over Firefox because of security.

Many of the firewalls including Internet Explorer and Firefox are vulnerable against hackers. It is so dangerous now. However, I agree that Firefox is better than Internet Explorer. I guess it depends on how secure you want to be. Nowadays you almost have to hire a hacker in order to get you computer security situation under control. In other words, we need extra firewall protection against intruders.

[MartinJose]

Originally Posted by StupidScript

Agreeing with Crimson Fox ...

Your company probably has policies that only support certain browsers.

While Firefox is usually "safer" than Internet Explorer because Firefox does not have the level of access into the operating system that Internet Explorer does, there are limits on what your company "security guys" are authorized to support, due to many factors, including their level of support certification and the company's political/economic structure.

Check for information in your company manuals and memos ... they are probably more revealing regarding this issue than any web search will be. Facts do not always drive company policies.

That's right . Advise you to use Firefox, if you don't know the websites you go are sfe.

[DawnEd]

Originally Posted by _detz_

Fire your security guy. Firefox is more secure that Internet Explorer, I've never seen a company tell their employees to use IE over Firefox because of security.

Yes i have seen some companies, that prefer ie over firefox, i use firefox for doing some stuff that i can't in IE, and i like it's functionality, and the addons. And yes, firefox is safe as IE, because all depends on the user. Not in the browser.

[hannah1]

Yes, I also agree with DawnEd irefox is safe as IE, And we can get more other option in fir fox as campier to IE.

[Jackrabbit.com]

This is a very entertaining thread and it's good to see all of these ideas and opinions.

Without taking a stand either way (I use FF for some things and IE for others), I would add that when it comes to security, user education is extremely critical. A user that blindly clicks anything and everything and who installs add-ons and plug-ins on a whim is going to compromise the security of their browser. Any browser.

Alex @ Jackrabbit.com

[SanWay]

I used IE for a couple of weeks after buying a new laptop but then I installed FF and I cant understand hoe someone can use IE instesd of FF...it confuses me...

[jesicawillss]

Firefox is very good than IE. I am using FF from a long time.