Last week the German government warned web users to ditch Internet Explorer and go with some alternative (Firefox, Google Chrome or Safari being the obvious choices).

Why?

As far as  I can tell there is a fairly vicious exploit out there which preys on IE version 6.0. It uses an invalid pointer reference to allow it to remotely execute code and hence place a trojan on your PC to steal your information. Microsoft has released Security Advisory #979352, which you can read about here.

The problem only impacts customers using IE6 and while that may still be around 20% of web users, IE7 and IE8 are not vulnerable to this exploit. And even so, to get infected you have to visit a rogue web site with the exploit embedded in it. There are emails in circulation that try to provoke you into doing that. So the risk is there, but it’s not particularly high.

It has to be said that it is not Microsoft’s fault that IE6 users have not upgraded. Many people like myself, who build web sites, gave up trying to accommodate IE6 quite a while ago. It was a bad non-standard release that often generates rendering problems for CSS coders. Microsoft fixed that and moved on. IE6 security was poor as this latest exploit demonstrates. Microsoft will surely produce a fix in time, but Microsoft recommends upgrading or setting Internet zone security in IE6 to high.

So why did the German government suddenly recommend to its citizens to drop this software product?

Even more bizarrely, this morning France has piled in and advised its citizens to drop IE too. Certa, a French government agency that oversees cyber threats, warned against using all versions of the web browser.

What is behind this?

I can only presume that European governments have been spooked by the Chinese attacks on Google and believe that they have to be proactive in order to protect their economies and citizens. However neither government has explained what is wrong with IE7 or IE8. IE8 was designed for security and Microsoft claims that it is the most secure of the browsers.

My advice, until someone demonstrates otherwise is that IE8 is safe, so upgrade unless you were wanting to change browsers anyway.

If a serious vulnerability suddenly emerges in Firefox or Safari, are the French and German governments going to advise you to switch browsers again?

I had a long discussion yesterday about Google’s phone that kicked the ball up and down the street. It concluded in an agreement that the Google phone is a mistake. Here’s the rationale:

• The Nexus One is really not that good, compared to the Droid, for example, never mind comparing it with the iPhone. That’s bad news for brand reasons.
• Google is not a device company, yet and it shouldn’t become one. It’s a tough road. Look at the problems Microsoft has been having with Zune, for example.
• Does Google even have it to become a device company quickly or even slowly. Does it really have the ability, not just to build a phone, but to keep a phone competitive.
• If it becomes a successful device company (which is, I admit, a possible route for it) then it will lose all those companies that are enthusiastically queuing up to build Android devices (cell phones or net books or tablets). They’ll go elsewhere – to Linux probably. The Google app store will be damaged.
• Why put yourself in direct competition with Apple on Apple’s territory?
• Google’s real revenue stream in the mobile market is adverts. That means it needs to inveigle its way onto as many devices as possible (via its app store). A phone of its own doesn’t help.

Google should bury the phone and do what it does best. It should forget about Chrome OS devices too.

Having said that: Kudos to Google for standing up to the Chinese.

As I remarked a while back, I’m gradually moving much of the content of this site to The Virtual Circle, which is going to be a more organized repository of writings. Here, I’ll just write a blog – which means no analysis but comments on this, that and the other – and breaking IT news.

I’ve done my 10 Predictions for the coming year and I’ve finally finished all my Xmas Words You Don’t know, which I amused myself with over Christmas. Here’s the full list, with meanings, in case you don’t want to read the associated posting.

#1 Hwoelor-tid; Yule tide (a Norse alternative)

#2 Brumalia; The Roman Winter Solstice feast.

#3 Protomartyr; The first Christian martyr in a country

#4 Dulocracy; Givernment by slaves

#5 Pohutukawa; The New Zealand Christmas tree.

#6 Hagiolatry; The worship od saints.

#7 Sinterklaas; Santa Claus

#8 Prolicide; The murder of your sons.

#9 Apophoret; An end of year gift.

#10 Kenosis; The manifestation of God as man#

11 Psilanthropy; The belief that Jesus was just a man.

#12 Parepochism; Errors in assigning dates to historical events.