Many Unaware of Browser-Security Link

[RammsteinNicCage]

I have to say, this doesn't really surprise me much.

[news.yahoo.com...]

The poll said that 49 percent of those asked did not know that their choice of browser can make a difference, including 17 percent who thought it had no effect.

Mainstream online news like yahoo's news section has been picking up on more and more of IE's security holes, but the "real news" like ABC, FOX, CNN, etc (in the US) rarely carry anything about security holes, so a very large percentage of people are left in the dark unless they actively go out searching for security holes.

Jennifer

[BlobFisk]

Nice article Jennifer and like you I'm not really surprised. Most people use the vanilla version of the computer that they buy. Even with the more extensive press coverage of late, most users never change their setup...

[MatthewHSE]

I've probably related this before, but a friend of mine, when I tried to get him to switch to Firefox, actually asked me if it used the same Internet as he was used to. Frankly, I'm surprised the number is as low as 49%. I would have expected closer to 75% or more.

[tedster]

I'm surprised the number is as low as 49%

Maybe the survey automatically eliminated people who don't know what a browser is - that's got to be in the 20% to 30% area.

[RammsteinNicCage]

Another thing to take into account is how was the poll conducted - via phone or online? If it was online, did they pick a somewhat more tech-savvy area to get people or did they pick something very common like google? That'll certainly throw your results off (and why polls should very rarely be followed :p ).

Jennifer