I think everyone must have heard of the recent news that Google might pull out of the mainland of China because of attempts to hack into Google’s Gmail system. Turns out the hacking was done through a security exploit found in MS Internet Explorer. Since the code for the zero-day exploit is now public, potentially millions of Windows PCs running IE6, 7, or 8 are now at similar risks already faced by Google and other corporations. The French and German government even gone as far as warning its people against using IE. On the other hand, it is not clear why folks at Google were using IE in the first place. :-)
If you are concerned, I just wanted to highlight that our Enterprise Solutions Office (ESU) has recently enhanced the AIMS program so that you can now use alternative browsers, such as Firefox and Google Chrome, to fully access features of AIMS. The Computing Services Centre (CSC) has now installed these browsers in the Windows 7 boot in all our classrooms and lecture theatres. In terms of worldwide browser usage, both Firefox and Chrome are gaining popularity. Worldwide usage statistics show that about 63% users use IE, 25% Firefox, and 5% Google Chrome. (Google Chrome can be faster if you are using Web 2.0 RIA applications that make extensive use of JavaScript.)
If you want to try these browsers out, just click on the following links. (Installing Chrome or Firefox will not interfere with the IE browser you already have.)
- Google Chrome (beta) 4.0 (Windows Vista/XP SP2+)
- Google Chrome 3.0
- Firefox 3.5
Happy (and safe) Web surfing!
