14 DAY TRIAL // The Chinese attacks on Google and a myriad of other companies seem have had one beneficial after-effect, apart from the fact that it spurred Google to drop censorship in the country, it has helped browser makers get ahead in some markets after it was revealed that a security hole in Internet Explorer was exploited in the attacks. The vulnerability has been causing quite an uproar around the web, for some reason IE security problems are something new to some, and in fact has lead to over-reactions from many including entire governments. Germany security officials have issued a warning against the Microsoft browser, followed by France and several other organizations urging people to switch to a safer alternative.
While dumping IE6 is a great advice that even Microsoft recommends, newer versions like IE7 and IE8 have come a long way and can generally be considered on par with Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera when it comes to security. Being the most used browser in the world leads to a lot more people wanting to exploit it, and some of the technologies aren't as advanced as some of those other browsers but, on the whole, IE8 should be considered safe enough for regular users.
In fact, most experts, even IE detractors, agreed that changing browsers every time a new security hole is found isn't going to make users any safer. However, common sense rarely gets a saying in this kind of things so the official warning, though some might even call it scare mongering, is working as downloads of Firefox jumped in Germany over the weekend after the announcement, as the WSJ reports.
Mozilla says that downloads were 300,000 over the regular numbers seen in the country, which is already a big fan of Firefox, the most popular browser in the country overtaking IE. Opera is reporting a similar boost in downloads which doubled after the announcement, reaching 18,000 a day in Germany. There is no data for France, but an uptick is more than likely there as well. A lot more interesting would be Google Chrome's numbers seeing as the company is so directly involved in all of this.
Firefox for Windows is available for download here. Opera for Windows is available for download here.