Study: 40% of Internet Users Run Vulnerable Browsers

kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

Study: 40% of Internet Users Run Vulnerable Browsers

In a new joint study recently released by Google, IBM, and Switzerland, it was found that more than four out of ten web users don't have the latest updates for their browsers of choice, and are likely vulnerable to attacks as a result.

It's probably not too surprising, but in the per-browser breakdowns, Firefox and Safari users do mostly keep up to date (83% and 65% running the latest versions, respectively). What is a bit surprising to me, given that users who opt for alternate browsers tend to be more security-conscious than the general internet populace, is that Opera came out with just over half of its users keeping up with patches. And finally, IE ranked at the bottom with a bit less than half of its users running the latest version, despite automatic updates having been standard on Windows machines for some time.

What about you guys? Are you running the latest version of your browser? If not, why not?

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Jafo

Join Date 03/2001

+1830

Not surprising. So many old people online these days that don't know how to operate a computer.

Define 'old' ....

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

Not surprising. So many old people online these days that don't know how to operate a computer. Perhaps some grandchild have told them to decativate the automatic updates. Strange though....

I doubt the fact that I was designing computers while you were still filling your diaper will have much effect on your opinion. But I can take solace in the fact that in another short 20 years you'll be old too, unless of course you have the decency to die before then.

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100% of users run a vulnerable browser. We just may not know it yet

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....and your Operating System is.....?

Crap.

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LightStar

Join Date 12/2002

+1562

I predominantly use FF3, but I also run IE7/8 to check for web site issues on my site, and except for doing a Microsoft Update, thsoe are the only times I use IE.

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I use ie 7 and have windows xp64 .I do auto updates but also check manually if I hear about an update i have not recieved via auto. Because my operating system is 64 bit it is harder to find security suites that will work unless they are for servers and then they want an arm and a leg for them so i have ended up going a more divesified route and all free programs grant you im probably running more than i need but so far my system is clean and i am always updating those programs most have auto update but not all will auto for free so I being cheap check for updates manually on boot up for those it is just a few key or mouse clicks to do.Yes im also an old fogey

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Philly0381

Join Date 11/2004

+844

ogremech your reply was like a ray of sunshine.

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i had to hide IE and the shortcuts because my sister kept using IE and it messed something or other up, cant remember, but it got really annoying. She'd use IE because she was "used to it", i myself use Firefox

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Not surprising. So many old people online these days that don't know how to operate a computer. Perhaps some grandchild have told them to decativate the automatic updates. Strange though....

Funny thing about this: while many older people aren't all that computer savvy, I've found from cruising around various websites, forums, and reading different things here and there that it's the young people that often don't know what they're doing. Purely anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but there you go.

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Funny thing about this: while many older people aren't all that computer savvy, I've found from cruising around various websites, forums, and reading different things here and there that it's the young people that often don't know what they're doing. Purely anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but there you go.

Just goes to show that to master something like computers, people need to have the right experience. Either people are too old to learn all those features/controls/functions, or too young to understand and keep up.

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

Either people are too old to learn all those features/controls/functions, or too young to understand and keep up.

It's not a matter of being too old to learn all those features/controls/functions, it's that it gets old relearning these same features/controls/functions every two years for close to the last 30 years and counting.

Same thing with building up a new PC. For a 20 something it's a lot of fun to select the individual motherboard, processor, video card, memory, hard drive, power supply, case and etc to build up a new PC. Of course how many times in their short life have they had to do this, perhaps 3, maybe 4. I've easily built up 10 different machines starting with a radio shack AT clone in the early 80's where I hand soldered the entire motherboard. In fact I've probably forgotten more machines that I've built than any 20 year old has ever built.

By now the glamour has long since worn off, particularly since no matter how close you try to ride the bleeding edge of PC performance, within two years anything you build or buy will be a piece of junk. Same thing with software.

You may consider me to be an old fuddy duddy because I don't particularly care to learn every new thing that comes along. I consider it wisdom. Come talk to me when you've learned the features/controls/functions of your 20th new browser.

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Either people are too old to learn all those features/controls/functions, or too young to understand and keep up.

Nothing to do with "too old". My grandfather who died at age 98, never had a TV, he just had no interest in the programs. Hated the programs frankly, (he reckoned they were trash - he had a point

), and if he wanted to communicate with a friend, he picked up the phone or wrote a letter or (horror of horrors) got on his bike and went to see them - a novel approach these days of "Fortress Bedroom". He loathed the concepts behind video games, thought journalists should be euthanized at birth, and had not the slightest interest in "smart ar&*&d" politicians, or load mouth idiots who had infested chat boards.

So, with that as a background, the chances of a Salesman selling him a £1000 PC so he could use email didnt fill him full of the joys of Spring, and the guy would lucky to leave without the door flattening his nose or breaking the tactically placed foot in the doorway.

His mainstream job before retiring? He was the senior technician repairing and building RAF Mosquitoe Fighter-Bombers. Not exactly low tech ..... he just didnt see the point, it did nothing for him. Difficult to argue against that .....

Regards
Zy

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I started using FF about a year or 2 ago. I just recently moved up to FF3 and am loving it. The only reason I use IE is when it opens from some program that refuses to see FF as the default browser.

One main reason I refuse to use IE is that I have Windows Vista Home Premium and for some odd reason every time IE7 opens I can't close it unless I go thru the task manager and force it to close and even then it takes a little while. Same thing goes for my wifes PC. Any clues as to why this might happen will be greatly appreciated.

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It's got nothing to do with age. It's whether or not the person cares. Most people don't, or don't even realize what the potential risks may be with using computers and certain software.

People are people, and for the most part, people are also sheep. They just want to sit at a computer and do their browsing and not have to learn something new or figure out anything remotely technical. This is because many people still know little to nothing about computers.

How many people do you know that are afraid to do anything to their computer because they 'might break it'? I've seen this time and time again. Age has nothing to do with it. It's a lack of knowledge and understanding and a reluctance to actually rectify that.

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Define 'old' ....

Don't have a long enough pole to go there.

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