Thank God It's a Macintosh

Sometimes it is nice to own an iMac G5 and to browse with Firefox in this year that follows the Year of The Digital Citizen. And before you say anything just read this from the Times today:

"Computer hackers are targeting a flaw in Microsoft’s Windows operating system that has placed hundreds of millions of PCs at risk of infection from dangerous "spyware" programs used by criminal gangs to steal people’s identities. (...)

The flaw in the software, which is used by 90 per cent of the world’s computers, allows PCs to be infected by programs maliciously embedded into seemingly harmless image files. It was first discovered last week, but Microsoft is yet to release a protective "patch" to guard against the danger.

Most attacks require a victim to download an infected file. But the newly discovered flaw makes it possible for a PC to be hit simply by a user browsing a web page or opening an e-mail that contains a contaminated image. (...)

According to the F-Secure website, Internet Explorer users are at the greatest risk of automatic infection "while Firefox and Opera browser users are prompted with a question whether they’d like to open the WMF image or not. They get infected too if they answer ‘Yes’."

Happy Surfing and Blogging!