Microsoft pitches IE9 as the browser for reaching ‘a few sites’
Microsoft has kicked off a new marketing campaign for Internet Explorer 9 that urges users of rival browsers to run it, even if only sparingly for "a few sites that you go to every day."
The unusual approach, which Microsoft launched last week on BrowserYouLovedToHate.com, a domain it registered last month, is part of Microsoft's continued campaign to convince Windows users to stick with IE9, or if they've switched browsers, to give it another try.
"One of the more interesting trends these days is the number of Chrome and Firefox enthusiasts who have 'added' Internet Explorer 9 into their browsing mix," said Roger Capriotti, the director of IE marketing, in a blog post last week. "You don't need to ditch your current browser, but there are probably a few sites you go to each day like Facebook that you can pin with IE9." Read more...
French team brings down IE9 at Pwn2Own hacking contest
A team from a French security firm hacked Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) yesterday at "Pwn2Own," making it two browsers busted in two days at the annual contest.
Also on Thursday, Google patched Chrome to fix two vulnerabilities that a long-time contributor to its bug bounty program used the day before to win $60,000 at "Pwnium," Google's first-ever hacking event.
The group from Paris-based Vupen Security brought down IE9 running on Windows 7 by exploiting a pair of previously-unknown "zero-day" bugs that bypassed the operating system's defensive technologies to execute attack code, allowing that code to escape from IE's "Protected Mode," the browser's limited-rights anti-exploit system. Read more...
Microsoft’s new IE9 commercial is surprisingly compelling
Certain products are at their best when you notice them the least. Web browsers are a good example of this, as you want the Internet to flow well, and not to get tripped up on what tool you are using to access it. That in mind, it can be difficult to cast a utility tool in a pleasing or exciting light, given their inherent status as backbone technology.
Google had a series of innovative commercials for Chrome, showing off various tests of the browser against whimsical Rube Goldbergs. Chrome, as you can guess, won. Microsoft, looking to promote Internet Explorer 9 has just released a new commercial which is, I think, effective, and notable as it is focused and surprisingly un-silly. Read more...
Microsoft blasts Google over iPhone browser tracking, pushes IE9 while it’s at it
With Google acknowledging that it utilised features in its services to bypass Apple’s built-in security measures in its Safari mobile browser to track users, Microsoft has taken the opportunity to join the debate, condemning the search giant and using it as a platform to tout the security of its own browser, Internet Explorer 9.
Remarking that Google’s tracking practices are “not new”, Microsoft’s blog post entitled ‘Browse Without Being Browsed’ accuses the company of circumventing the privacy protections in Apple’s mobile browser “in a deliberate, and ultimately, successful fashion.”
Microsoft then proceeds to list how its Internet Explorer 9 browser has some of the “strongest privacy protection in the industry,” highlighting its Tracking Protection feature and how it puts users in control of their actions online.
“Not Google. Not advertisers. Just you,” Microsoft declares. Read more...
Facebook porn storm used same tactics as May’s Bin Laden spam
IE8, IE9, Opera and Safari vulnerable to 'self-XSS' attacks
The attacks against Facebook that planted pornography on users' news feeds relied on the same trickery as a campaign last spring that touted the death of Osama Bin Laden, a security researcher said today.
On Tuesday, Facebook confirmed what it called "a coordinated spam attack" that resulted in sexually explicit images, as well as photos of animal abuse, spreading on member's pages.
Facebook identified the hacker tactic used to hijack pages and bombard friends with the photos as an exploit of what it called a "self-XSS browser vulnerability."
That label -- self-XSS -- has been used by other researchers, including those at Commtouch, to describe a ploy where spam messages tell recipients to copy and paste JavaScript into their browser's address bar. The script, however, is in fact malicious and exploits a bug in the browser. Read more...
Unpatched DLL bugs let hackers exploit Windows 7 and IE9, says researcher
Although Microsoft has patched multiple DLL load hijacking vulnerabilities since last summer, Windows and Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) can still be exploited, a security company warned today.
Microsoft confirmed that it's investigating the claims by Slovenia-based Acros Security.
Researchers from Acros will demonstrate the new attacks at the Hack in the Box security conference in Amsterdam later this month. Read more...
IE9 can’t stop Microsoft’s browser slump
The March launches of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) and Firefox 4 failed to stop Microsoft's and Mozilla's decline in browser share, new Web usage data published Sunday showed.
According to California-based Net Applications, one of a handful of companies that regularly publishes browser usage data, IE lost eight-tenths of a percentage point of share in April, falling to 55.1%, a new low for Microsoft. Read more...
Firefox 4 nearly ready, but IE9 may be faster
The Mozilla Foundation has announced the release of Firefox 4 RC1, earlier this week. This is a feature-complete release, and could even morph into a final release with no further changes, particularly if Mozilla is keen to steal some thunder from the imminent arrival of Internet Explorer 9, which Microsoft has just confirmed will be available from Monday.
Firefox 4 will, like its rivals, be much lighter in weight than the current version (3.6), which will ensure better performance. Like Chrome and IE9, the user interface has been redesigned to maximise screen real-estate for viewing web pages. It will be available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Read more...