600 million idiots endanger their data by using outdated Web browsers
Posted by: in General NewsA study by ETH Zurich, Google and IBM found that about 40 percent of all World wide web users have failed to download security patches and other major updates to their Web browsers.
Researchers made this determination by examining Google user logs collected between January, ‘07 and June, ‘08.
The most surprising result: a whopping 52.4 percent of Internet Explorer users still use the woeful IE 6 rather than somewhat superior IE 7.
The study didn’t speculate how much damage people do to themselves and the Internet community by using browsers that expose them to phishing, viruses and other dangers.
Still, the researchers think the problem is bad enough that it might warrant an extreme solution: putting expiration dates on browsers so users are forced to download newer software.
Alternatively, the researchers recommended that all browsers should update themselves automatically.
This strikes me as a better recommendation, but it still doesn’t address the problem of getting people to upgrade from whatever they’re using now.
A lot of these people will probably be using IE 6 several decades hence, unless folks like you, who read technology blogs, step in and help your less savvy friends.
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