5 Reasons why Internet Explorer must die

It is no secret that we don’t like Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), the outdated 10+ year old browser still used by 15-25% of people on the web. Last year, we called for IE6 to die so that the web could move on with new innovations such as HTML 5. Internet Explorer 6 is under fire again after a critical IE vulnerability was implicated for the attack on Google's infrastructure by Chinese hackers. Whether you work for a company that won’t get rid of IE6 or have parents that just don’t see the need to upgrade, here are five new reasons to upgrade or switch your browser.

• World governments are suggesting you switch browsers:- Both Germany and France have issued warnings , asking citizens to switch to prevent the same type of breach that affected Google.
• Even Microsoft wants you to drop IE6:- The Microsoft Research and development team specifically addressed the flaw and the risk of attack by platform. The most important part of the post was that they “recommend users of IE6 on Windows XP upgrade to a new version of Internet Explorer and/or enable DEP .
• Your security and your company’s security are at risk:- There’s no other way to lay it out: if the security of Google, Yahoo, and around 20 other companies were compromised due to people still running IE6, then your security is at risk too. Upgrading after a hacker uses this exploit to steal your information is simply too late, especially if you hold sensitive customer data. 
• Not wanting to upgrade from Windows XP isn’t a legitimate excuse anymore:- One way to delete IE6 is to upgrade your OS — both Windows Vista and  windows 7 run upgraded versions of the IE browser. 
• This will not be the last massive IE6 security breach:- This flaw was unknown before Google’s groundbreaking China announcement. And it’s not the first flaw ever found with the browser — there are at least 143 vulnerabilities 22 of which are not yet patched. Would you use armor that had 143 weak spots? 

Last week’s series of events drove home just how dangerous and idiotic it is to run the long-broken IE6 browser. It should be a wake-up call to IT departments and users around the world: if you keep running a browser from 2001, you are throwing your online security right out the window.