Use-by date demanded for web browsers
Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and Google have made the case for a "best before" date on web browsers.
In a paper entitled “Understanding the web browser threat”, they revealed that 637 million internet users worldwide surfed with vulnerable software.
The problem, according to the researchers, is that most users are unaware that they are not using the latest version of their browser.
The authors therefore suggest that, as a critical component of software, a “best before” date should be instituted.
The study is based on data archived by Google’s global search and web application servers between January 2007 and June 2008.
It identified the number of web browsers worldwide with security loopholes. Computers running these browsers are vulnerable to unwanted downloads including spyware and viruses.
The results showed that 59 per cent of internet users used the latest major version of their preferred web browser.
Firefox users were the most attentive but only 52.5 per cent of Microsoft Internet Explorer users were employing the latest, most secure Internet Explorer 7 to surf.
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