It’s all over the news today, Homeland Security on Monday issued a warning to stop using Internet Explorer until Microsoft fixes a security vulnerability in the program. Homeland security stated that the vulnerability in versions 6 to 11 of Internet Explorer could lead to “the complete compromise” of an affected system. Although the hackers to date have been targeting larger businesses in the government and finance sectors, with this news release hackers around the world took note. So it is best to not use Internet Explorer for the time being.
What are my options then?
Well, besides putting a halt to your internet use, there are some more viable options, basically to switch to a different internet browser. Internet explorer simply is your gateway into the internet. Other browsers provide the same function, and as you might find, they do so at sometimes faster rates.
Google Chrome
Google Chrome has been around since 2008 and by some counts is the most widely used browser in the world. It is a very stable browser and comes with many extensions providing you a lot of capability for a browser. How to make the transition.
First you need to download and install the browser if it is not already on your computer. You can download it at https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/. This will download the ChromeSetup.exe program. Double click to install Chrome on your PC. Follow the prompts and the browser installs rather quickly.
How to set up Google Chrome for use? If you have been using Internet Explorer you likely have saved a lot of bookmarks or favorites to speed up your browsing. You can transfer these favorites to the Google Chrome browser. From within Chrome, click on the 3 parallel lines on the top right of your browser. Highlight bookmarks and it will bring up a sub menu, then click on Import Bookmarks and settings… Select Internet Explorer from the drop down list and press import. You are now set to start browsing with Google Chrome.
Other Browsers
There are other browsers you may choose as well, Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, and Opera. Click here for more information on Firefox, here for Safari, and here for Opera.