In the last two decades, the Internet has exploded with growth. Such a dramatic increase in use would not be possible without the use of the web browser. For many of us, computing would not be what it is today without the browser; many of us use these applications on an almost constant basis. The big players in the PC web browser market are Microsofts Internet Explorer (IE), Mozillas Firefox, and Googles Chrome. While all three are excellent browsers, they are not created equal on the security front, where Firefox and Chrome appear to be the most secure.
No matter how good of an anti-virus or anti-spyware application users use, users can often still end up getting malicious software (malware) on their PC. While anti-virus and anti-spyware applications are absolutely essential for added protection, they are not failsafe. In addition to your anti-virus and anti-spyware applications, we strongly recommend running an alternative web browser as opposed to Internet Explorer. You may ask yourself, “Why is it dangerous to run Internet Explorer?? After all, it came with your computer. There are actually a couple of reasons for that. First and foremost, the individuals who create malicious software want the impact of their virus or spyware felt on a massive scale, meaning they want to infect as many PCs as possible, and with Internet Explorer being the most widely used web browser, these applications usually target IE. Secondly, Internet Explorer is directly tied to the kernel of your operating system, which is basically the core of your OS. This means that if IE gets infected, it can cripple your entire operating system, thus rendering your computer unusable.
Thats not to say that some viruses and spyware are not written for Firefox or Chrome, but from a statistical standpoint, there are astronomically more written for Internet Explorer. Now, there may be a few sites that strictly require Internet Explorer and its fine to use IE for these specific sites, but if the majority of your browsing is done via Firefox or Chrome, you will be far less susceptible to spyware and viruses.
In the ever changing world of the Internet, with everyone in the world being able to communicate with one another, security is of the utmost importance. With that in mind, its in the best interest of the end user to protect themselves, and using a secure web browser like Firefox is a great way to do so!
