| Users warned over IE6 security risks |
| Wednesday, 02 June 2010 14:59 | |||
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Millions of internet users are leaving themselves open to attack by cyber criminals, as a new study reveals that some 25% of internet users still use the outdated Internet Explorer 6 browser.
A research report from security firm Zscaler shows that this figure is still an improvement over January 2010. Then IE6 handled 34% of all traffic, despite the fact Microsoft no longer updates the security measures on the older browser as it has focused its resources upon the newer Internet Explorer 8 software. A growing number of businesses are recognising that a secure web browser is an essential business technology. In the first four months of 2010 the number of enterprises upgrading to the latest IE version grew from 6% to 10%. However, the large number of users still relying upon IE6 represents a big security problem says Zcaler's report. Attackers are penetrating computer security on IE6 user's computers by repeating practised and automated attack techniques, says the company's vice president of security research. Computer Weekly reports that Microsoft's security experts have advised all IE users to upgrade to the latest version. They say that IE8's incorporation of the company's patented SmartScreen anti-abuse filtering technology, which is at work on the Bing search engine, Windows Live and the Hotmail service, is responsible for the software's success. John Scarrow, general manager of safety services at Microsoft says that "Up to 40% of all malware is detected using SmartScreen's reputation based technology before being detected by standard anti-virus software."
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