We discussed the question of why IE6 is still out there. Well ... http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/08/despite-petition-uk-government-to-keep-ie6.ars
reports that the UK government has officially decided not to replace
IE6, feeling the costs outweigh the benefits. Quoting from the
government response:
"Complex software will always have vulnerabilities and motivated
adversaries will always work to discover and take advantage of them.
There is no evidence that upgrading away from the latest fully patched
versions of Internet Explorer to other browsers will make users more
secure. Regular software patching and updating will help defend
against the latest threats. The Government continues to work with
Microsoft and other internet browser suppliers to understand the
security of the products used by HMG, including Internet Explorer and
we welcome the work that Microsoft are continuing do on delivering
security solutions which are deployed as quickly as possible to all
Internet Explorer users....
It is not straightforward for HMG departments to upgrade IE versions
on their systems. Upgrading these systems to IE8 can be a very large
operation, taking weeks to test and roll out to all users. To test all
the web applications currently used by HMG departments can take months
at significant potential cost to the taxpayer. It is therefore more
cost effective in many cases to continue to use IE6 and rely on other
measures, such as firewalls and malware scanning software, to further
protect public sector internet users."
-- Jerry
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