Germany warns against use of Firefox browser
BurgerCERT page
The Computer Emergency Response Team posted the warning
The German government has issued a warning about using the Firefox browser because of security issues.
The Federal Office for Information Security made a similar ruling on the safety of Internet Explorer in January.
The office warned that the Firefox vulnerability, confirmed by Firefox makers, could allow hackers to run malicious programs on users' computers.
A new browser release at the end of the month will fix the bug which relates to the current version, Firefox 3.6.
A "beta" or test version of that release, Firefox 3.6.2, is already available but has not yet been fully tested.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has recommended that users stop using Firefox until the tested fix is released - in a move remarkably similar to the January announcement, in which France followed suit just days later.
Fox swap?
The Firefox vulnerability was confirmed by maker Mozilla last week on its security blog, when it promised that the next official release would address the issue.
It is only the current version that is affected, but given that prior releases have different vulnerabilities, reverting to an older version of the browser is ill-advised.
Switching to a different browser may not be a good solution either, said Graham Cluley, senior technologist at security firm Sophos.
"Switching your web browser willy-nilly as each new unpatched security hole is revealed could cause more problems than it's worth," he said.
"What are you going to do when your replacement browser itself turns out to contain a vulnerability?
"My advice is to only switch from Firefox if you really know what you are doing with the browser you're swapping to. If you stick with Firefox, apply the security update as soon as it's available."
Firefox was not immediately available for comment.
