How long will it be before IE7 gets hacked or a major security flaw is discovered? IE7 is due out at the beginning of November as a Windows update and the final version is available direct from Microsoft. Everyone has been ask if websites are ready for IE7. But the real question is are hackers and virus programmers ready for it.

New features

IE7 has an impressive set of security features but are they enough? Here's the list of improvements.

User confidence and standards

There seems to be a lot of talk surround IE7 most of it having to do with it IE regaining lost users. But doing this will mean also regaining trust and confidence in the software. The question is if this happens will it happen because IE is more secure or because it will bring more features and better HTML standards compliance? Will people fall in love with IE again and despite any security problems accept it more because the benefits of the performance features and standards improvements outweight any dangers of security flaws.

This is probably true of Firefox also. While Firefox does have many security flaws it is becoming more popular because of the way it renders HTML, CSS and Javascript. In general the Firefox user population overlooks any security shortcomings and give it favor because designing websites which it support is much easier. It is possible the same will start happening for IE7. After all IE did gain its number one spot by knocking out Netscape when Netscapes standards compliance was very low.

Living on borrowed time

Given all of the new security features there still may come some flaw that is built in or an opening created from a user activity. We all know nothing is perfect. But do users and companies now take for granted that IE will lose its new secure status? If this is true how long will they trust it before they consider it a high risk option? Many will be forced to upgrade and many others will be in charge of doing the updates from IE6 to IE7. But do those in charge actually believe that they are getting a secure browser or just borrowing time?

Cheering for the bad guys

Taking a guess at how long it will be after the official release of IE7 before any security hole is discovered and taken advantage of may seem like a negative thing. But this is a simple way of determining users confidence in the product. Strangely enough it also is a barometer for how much faith people have in the hacker community. It is kind of like a movie where you know the bad guys are commiting a crime but you find yourself siding with them anyway.

Happy Publishing!

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