France teams with Germany over IE flaws

Internet Explorer - how to lose friends and alienate people
Internet Explorer - how to lose friends and alienate people

The Internet Explorer fallout continues, with France announcing that it wants its citizens to use an alternative to IE when browsing the web.

Due to recent security scares unearthed by Google in China, Internet Explorer's reputation has taken a bit of a hammering of late, something which was parlayed with Germany warning computer users in the country over the weekend not to use Microsoft's browser for surfing the internet.

According to Sophos, the French government has also announced it is taking a similar stance via CERTA (translated as the Centre of Government Response and Treatment of Computer Attacks), where it is asking users to use an alternative browser and disable in 'active code' such as JavaScript and ActiveX.

Better the devil you know

Graham Cluely from Sophos gives the following advice about the IE security scares: "My advice is to only switch from Internet Explorer if you really know what you are doing with the browser you're swapping to. Otherwise it might be a case of 'better the devil you know'.

"My guess is that Microsoft will be working hard to release an out-of-band patch for the vulnerability. They will be keen to fix the serious security problem before more damage is done to Internet Explorer's reputation."

Microsoft better act quick, before the whole of the EU responds in a similar way.

Via Mashable

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.

Latest in Internet
Google Maps on a phone being held in someone's hand
Google Maps is getting two key upgrades, for easier route planning and quicker access to Gemini AI
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Thursday, March 27 (game #1158)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, March 27 (game #389)
Pinterest
How to post on Pinterest
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, March 26 (game #1157)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, March 26 (game #388)
Latest in News
An image of Pro-Ject's Flatten it closed and opened
Pro-Ject’s new vinyl flattener will fix any warped LPs you inadvertently buy on Record Store Day
EA Sports F1 25 promotional image featuring drivers Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman.
F1 25 has been officially announced, with this year's entry marking a return for Braking Point and a 'significant overhaul' for My Team mode
Garmin clippd integration
Garmin's golf watches just got a big software integration upgrade to help you improve your game
Robert Downey Jr reveals himself as Doctor Doom to a delighted crowd at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
Marvel is currently revealing the full cast for Avengers: Doomsday, and I think it's going to be a long-winded announcement
Samsung QN90F on yellow background
Samsung announces US prices for its 2025 mini-LED TV lineup, and it’s good and bad news
Nintendo Switch Lite
Forget the Nintendo Switch 2, the original Switch is getting one last hurrah in a surprise Nintendo Direct tomorrow