Google
 

Aardvark Daily

The world's longest-running online daily news and commentary publication, now in its 30th year. The opinion pieces presented here are not purported to be fact but reasonable effort is made to ensure accuracy.

Content copyright © 1995 - 2025 to Bruce Simpson (aka Aardvark), the logo was kindly created for Aardvark Daily by the folks at aardvark.co.uk



Please visit the sponsor!
Please visit the sponsor!

Time for a mil-spec browser?

29 April 2014

According to reports on the wires this morning, the US Department of Homeland Defense has advised people to stop using Microsoft's Internet Explorer until the latest zero-day vulnerability has been fixed.

OMG... how will they update their FacePalm pages?

Apparently the vulnerability is already exploited in attempts to compromise a range of key US industries and government organisations and anyone using IE will potentially be a sitting duck if they hook up to the web.

One has to wonder exactly what browser the US government and military are using for their online activities?

If (as I suspect) it is Internet Explorer, this vulnerability effectively leaves the US government caught with its pants down.

Surely they must have a mil-spec browser that they deploy in preference to the offerings from Microsoft, Google or Mozilla -- if not, one would have to ask "why not?"

In an age where cyberwarefare is becoming an increasingly important part of any war (or cold-war), using an "off the shelf" browser is somewhat akin to sending your front-line troops into combat dressed in teeshirts and sandals, whilst armed with little more than Daisy BB rifles.

Surely a mil-spec browser that has inbuilt hard encryption (no, not OpenSSL) for accessing top-secret restricted content and massive levels of sandboxing would be a number-one priority for any military or government -- but perhaps not. Maybe it's because USB drives filled with such code don't look nearly so impressive as drones laden with Hellfire missiles or supersonic combat aircraft when parading them before your enemies.

Let's face it, consumer-grade browsing software is constantly being patched to fix zero-day exploits and other vulnerabilities. Even if it's not your browser that's at fault today it's probably Adobe Flash -- which must surely be one of the worst bits of code in regular use, from a security perspective. In some ways it's a ticking time-bomb that's present in 99% of all web-surfing PCs.

Ah well.. the more somethings change, the more they stay the same, I guess. The only way to guarantee total security for your devices these days is to turn them off, lock them in a steel box and sit on that box for the rest of your natural life.

While I'm sure some may be tempted to take that course of action -- the rest of us (perhaps including the US military and government) will just have to take our chances, using the flawed software we have.

Please visit the sponsor!
Please visit the sponsor!

(Sorry, forums are stuffed at present)

PERMALINK to this column


Rank This Aardvark Page

 

Change Font

Sci-Tech headlines

 


Features:

The EZ Battery Reconditioning scam

Beware The Alternative Energy Scammers

The Great "Run Your Car On Water" Scam

 

Recent Columns

Get ready for this
I've already written about the push to introduce Digital ID in the UK and the furore that is causing...

Do you miss this?
For many decades, most homes had a fairly simple piece of tech that is now absent...

The Enemy Within?
China's EVs are changing the world...

AI impacts us all
You might be old-fashioned and decide that you will not be using AI...

Where has all the Aspirin gone?
When I was a kid the universal pain-killer was Aspiri...

What has gone wrong?
When I jumped online this morning (at about 1:30am) I was reminded that something is wrong...

This is serious, I am not kidding
Okay, I confess, I am now addicted...

The internet is a cesspool
All over the world, governments are rolling out measures to protect children from the dangers that are to be found on the internet...

Digital ID is coming
I recall many years ago that the NZ government tried to bring in a national ID card...

It's happening again
Earlier this year there were mass reports of unidentified drones being seen over the US states of New York and New Jersey...