Browse Happy? I’m laughing already.
So I just upgraded this blog to WordPress 2.1. It has some really cool features; mainly on the editing side. But I have to say, the thing that irks me about WordPress is that it is a browser evangelism platform.
Previous versions would just show a “Get Firefox” link. But the new version ups the ante with the following link:
The “Browse Happy” campaign says
Internet Explorer can make your computer unsafe. Why not switch to a browser that’s more secure?
It goes on to recommend Firefox, Mozilla, Opera or Safari as browsers that will keep you “Online. Worry free.”
Alright, I like FireFox. And I would be quite happy to admit that in many ways it is better than Internet Explorer. But I’m afraid it is just plain wrong to say that Firefox is so safe that you can browse without worry.
The fact is that FireFox used to be safer. When it was a new player in the browser world, hackers weren’t going to waste time trying to find it’s vulnerabilities. But now that it’s a popular browser, the hackers are targeting it too. There have been many FireFox vulnerabilities exposed recently - some of them very dangerous; allowing hackers to take control of your computer.
Fact: if you are using a popular browser you are at risk and you should always make sure you keep it up to date.
Fact: the number of Firefox vulnerabilities and exploits is only going to increase as it takes more share of the browser market.
So, sure, you can evangelise about alternative browsers being nicer to use, or more standards compliant. But, it is irresponsible to lull users into a false sense of security by telling them that, if they use Firefox, they needn’t worry about online security.