Something about firefox that I don't believe...

[FreewheelinFrank]

It does rather muddy the waters, at least to some extent, in the point being made in the post by FWF though.

I have to wonder about where this is intended to take us.  Is the intent to make us all live in fear?  Is the point that we should not be using our browsers at all?  It is a bit like flying.  I didn't get killed in a plane crash yet (but many others have in my lifetime) so I will go on flying.  If I am wrong in that assessment I will try to let you all know from the beyond not to pay any heed to my comments.

The point being made is that it doesn't matter where you surf- you will always be at risk. To suggest that you can avoid attacks by keeping to "safe" sites is wrong.

[alanrf]

FWF,

have you ever seen any assessment of how many were infected by this hacking of the avast forum? 

If you skate on thin ice and get across - even if it is risky - you are still alive.

To get back to my point - you are pointing out risk - I am pointing out risk too.  You are saying that no sites are risk free.  I am not disagreeing but saying there are certainly "safer" sites to stick to. 

We are really back to the old "you could get killed crossing the street in front of your house tomorrow".  While I agree that we should not here ever say that surfing is risk free nor should we be trying to tell folks that the sky is falling. 

For the last four years and more I and the folks I support have been avast users - in that time all of us have now moved to being behind hardware routers too and I push the "keeping up to date" with security fixes.  I am relieved and glad to report that in that time we have all been surfing and none of us have incurred an infection - I hope it will long remain that way.

[FreewheelinFrank]

FWF,

have you ever seen any assessment of how many were infected by this hacking of the avast forum?

Not by individual hacks (the point of an exploit is to install malware without the user's knowledge, after all) but by hacking of web sites, yes:

Virtual Heist Nets 500,000+ Bank, Credit Accounts

A single cyber crime group has stolen more than a half million bank, credit and debit card accounts over the past two-and-a-half years using one of the most advanced strains of computer spyware in existence, according to research to be published today. The discovery is among the largest stolen data caches ever recovered.

...

The makers of Sinowal typically have spread their Trojan by sewing malicious code into the fabric of large numbers of legitimate, hacked Web sites. When an unsuspecting Windows user visits one of these sites, the code left on the site tries to install the Trojan using one of several known Web browser security holes, such as vulnerabilities found in popular video and music player plug-ins like Macromedia Flash and Apple's QuickTime player.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/10/virtual_bank_heist_nets_500000.html

[Abraxas]

Some good points raised here , not that I'm an Adjudicator . 

Basically all of us who follow the Avast! forum suggestions for safe surfing , and use Avast! Anti-Virus with it's compatible software bedfellows , which change as required year after year will report they have very few if any viruses .
This is good , Yes    Awareness of how to configure your AV , Anti Spyware , Firewall , and Browser whether it be IE or Whatever is what it takes to have a better than Nil chance of navigating from one website to the next , as I believe ... , maybe not everyone 

Husk: ( Thread Starter )

I just had my computer reformatted. And the computer guy said that firefox is badnews and is bad and stuff and that is doesn't block anything and let's everything through, Which is IE as I recall ^^. Which in my opinion in NOT TRUE!!, Now my mum thinks it's causing crashes. At least she knows how to reformat now.
Any idea on how to make her not believe this?

You can lead a horse to water ... etc. When your big and have your own Computer you can have Firefox    (sorry j/k )

Wasn't this topic also about Firefox ; "Now my mum thinks it's causing crashes." If so you may want to look at how much memory , you have , RAM , How much memory IE uses when you run it compared to Firefox , and fix whatever is making the Comp. crash , your mother will have to let you use Firefox then , logically there would be no reason to not use it .Also  because a very large lot of people here at this AV Forum who use Firefox aren't getting viruses , or system crashes .
Read the Forum posts and get familiar with why  Best of luck .

[bob3160]

There's no guarantee that media or government sites will be safe, as both have been hacked to serve up exploits.

I've posted many links to articles on this subject, so regular forum members should be aware of the problem.

So if I follow your logic Frank, we should all stop surfing the internet.
I'll let you lead the way. 

[FreewheelinFrank]

alanrf pointed has pointed out in another thread that I didn't respond to Bob's question.

I didn't do so because I thought it was a straw man.

I thought at the time everybody knew what I meant (I've said it enough elsewhere) but re-reading the thread, I haven't actually stated it here.

So I will state it.

There is no such thing as a safe site, so it is important to keep your web browser and web-facing software up to date.

Hacked web sites use exploits to install malware, but these exploits usually affect out of date, unpatched and insecure web-browsers or web-facing software.

With a fully patched and up to date system, it is perfectly safe to surf any site on the web.

The rare exception is when an exploit exists for a browser or piece of software for which no patch has been issued- a zero-day exploit. When this is true, I would recommend following any advice given for mitigating the threat, or avoiding that browser or piece of software until a patch is issued.

WebShield is a useful first line of defence for Windows users, but the main line of defence is a fully patched system, which is why I recommend Secunia so often.

Secunia Online Software Inspector (OSI)
Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI)

[bob3160]

alanrf pointed has pointed out in another thread that I didn't respond to Bob's question.

I didn't do so because I thought it was a straw man.

I thought at the time everybody knew what I meant (I've said it enough elsewhere) but re-reading the thread, I haven't actually stated it here.

So I will state it.

There is no such thing as a safe site, so it is important to keep your web browser and web-facing software up to date.

Hacked web sites use exploits to install malware, but these exploits usually affect out of date, unpatched and insecure web-browsers or web-facing software.

With a fully patched and up to date system, it is perfectly safe to surf any site on the web.

The rare exception is when an exploit exists for a browser or piece of software for which no patch has been issued- a zero-day exploit. When this is true, I would recommend following any advice given for mitigating the threat, or avoiding that browser or piece of software until a patch is issued.

WebShield is a useful first line of defence for Windows users, but the main line of defence is a fully patched system, which is why I recommend Secunia so often.

Secunia Online Software Inspector (OSI)
Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI)

Isn't it nice when we are able to agree on a statement. 

[Marc57]

I just had my computer reformatted. And the computer guy said that firefox is badnews and is bad and stuff and that is doesn't block anything and let's everything through, Which is IE as I recall ^^. Which in my opinion in NOT TRUE!!, Now my mum thinks it's causing crashes. At least she knows how to reformat now.

Any idea on how to make her not believe this?

This Tech is off his rocker, When I'm asked by a customer about browsers I try to give them the good and bad points about ALL of them. But, if they ask what I use I tell them IE, Not because it's special, just because it's MY choice.