Are You Using the Latest Browser?

At a recent ACT meeting in Tampa, Alvito Vaz of Progressive Insurance raised the very important issue of agents using older versions of web browsers.

Internet Explorer 6 was released more than eight years ago. If you are using this old browser, now is the time to upgrade to a newer version of Microsoft’s browser or to another browser. Internet Explorer 7 was released in October 2006 and Internet Explorer 8 was released in March 2008. These newer browsers provide better security, performance, and compatibility and are a real improvement over Internet Explorer 6.

Keep in mind that there are other browsers available for you to use. Firefox and Google Chrome are two other popular browsers. The choice of which browser to upgrade to depends on the applications you are running and the websites you use.

Not all websites are compatible with all browsers. Some carriers and vendors have reported that their websites are not yet compatible with Internet Explorer 8, Firefox, or Chrome.

But, if you find you do like one browser better than another, you can install and use more than one browser. We use all three: Internet Explorer 8, Firefox, and Chrome — sometimes at the same time!

Since Internet Explorer 7 was released a few years ago, it is more likely to be compatible with all the applications you are currently running.

The main reason to upgrade is to make sure your organization is taking all the steps necessary to protect your client’s private information. This is critical. There have been general concerns about Internet Explorer 6 security being too weak.

Recent events, including the January breach of Gmail accounts, exploited a vulnerability in this browser. Since then, Google has announced they will stop supporting Internet Explorer 6 for some of their applications, including Gmail and Calendar.

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), part of the Department of Homeland Security, has also issued an advisory about Internet Explorer 6.

Additional references:

US CERT:
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/492515

Google support:
http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html