Internet Explorer is once again at the top of the charts--in a bad way. And according to new research, a growing number of enterprises are thinking about taking their browser strategies in a different direction. . . .
Internet Explorer is once again at the top of the charts--in a bad way. And according to new research, a growing number of enterprises are thinking about taking their browser strategies in a different direction.

In its quarterly study on hackers' favorite exploits, ScanSafe reported that an IE-based Trojan downloader, Exploit.HTML.Mht, was the most popular Internet exploit in Q2 2004. ScanSafe also published the name of the top virus or Trojan exploit stopped by its security systems. The winner was another IE-based Trojan program, this one helpfully named TrojanDownloader.Win32.ODown.I. IT and security managers can add both these names to the list of vulnerabilities introduced through IE, which has become an obvious target for attackers.

Is it time to start thinking about a new browser? At least a few organizations think so. Although IE still makes up about 90 percent of the market, a growing number of enterprises say they are exploring browser options, and Mozilla and Firefox, among others, have made steady deployment gains over the past several months. The key to browser flexibility is application flexibility--Web sites and applications written to W3C standards allow browser choice, while other apps rely on a specific browser. If you can find a way to include W3C standards in your applications, you may have a chance to evaluate better--and safer--browser alternatives down the road.

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