Apex Internet Blog

Keep your browser up to date

It seems that on a daily basis the news contains reports of someone being hacked, whether it is a large company or your friendly neighbour down the street. These days most people appear to be a lot more aware of spam emails, but there is another very important security issue that is often over looked – are you running the latest version of your browser? There are five major browsers available at the moment and all of them are constantly being updated. Sure, most of them are trying to get you to switch to their product over any other browser by releasing the latest and greatest features, but they are also constantly releasing security updates. These updates patch up holes in their products which hackers can exploit and unless you make sure you’re up to date with the latest version, you're a potential target for hackers.

You can usually find out what version of browser you are running by clicking on the “Help” menu in the browser and clicking “About [Browser Name]” e.g. “About Internet Explorer”. Some browsers will automatically provide you with their updates, otherwise you can click on a download link below to get the latest version.

Here is a list of the latest browsers and their versions for you to check against:

Browser	Current Version	Download
Internet Explorer (Windows XP)	8	http://windows.microsoft.com/en-NZ/internet-explorer/products/ie/home
Internet Explorer (Windows Vista or Windows 7)	9	http://windows.microsoft.com/en-NZ/internet-explorer/products/ie/home
Firefox	5	http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/new/
Chrome	12	http://www.google.com/chrome/
Safari	5	http://www.apple.com/safari/download/
Opera	11	http://www.opera.com/download/

It is recommended to check for the latest version of your browser every 2-3 months. Besides the new security fixes you receive, you will often benefit from new features and improved performance when browsing around your favourite websites.

Categories: Technical
Posted on: 28th Jun 11 by Nigel Wells
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