Out of date, vulnerable browsers put users at risk

According to the results of a new survey from Kaspersky - a security software vendor - nearly a quarter of the browsers currently in use are out of date. Surfing the Web with a vulnerable browser is a recipe for disaster.

The Web browser has evolved to become the primary software used on many PCs. People access their email, surf websites, create documents and spreadsheets, access cloud-based file storage and sharing sites, and share with others on social networking sites - all through the browser. Attackers no this as well, which is why it is exceptionally risky to use a browser with known vulnerabilities.

Kaspersky gathered anonymous data through its cloud-based Kaspersky Security Network. Kaspersky researchers analyzed the browser usage data from millions of customers around the world, and uncovered some concerning trends.

•23 percent of browsers are not current: 14.5 percent are still using the previous version, while 8.5 percent are using even older, obsolete versions.
•When a new version of a browser is released, it can take nearly 10 days for it to surpass the previous version in usage, and an average of about a month for a majority of users to upgrade.

The major browsers all have automatic update mechanisms in place. The easiest way to make sure your browser is current is to enable the automatic updates and let them do what they’re meant to do - keep your browser up to date without requiring you to manage the process yourself.

There are some valid reasons for holding off on upgrading to a new browser version. Some users might feel like new versions just add arbitrary features - bells and whistles - they simply don’t care about, so they choose to stick with the browser they’re already comfortable with. Some users have been burned in the past by updating to a new version and finding out the hard way that some sites or plug-ins no longer work as expected - if at all.

:story: PCWorld