Tech Table Tuesday, May 6, 2014
May 6, 2014
Justin: Welcome to MPA’s Tech Table. I’m Justin.
Diana: And I’m Diana.
Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.
Diana: We promise it’ll be easy to digest. Hello there, Justin.
Justin: Hello, Diana. It’s Tuesday.
Diana: Yes, Tech Tuesday to be specific.
Justin: That is right. We are going to talk about the whole insecurity that was talked about on the news recently regarding Explorer.
Diana: Ah, good ol’ Explorer.
Justin: What is Explorer?
Diana: Well, Internet Explorer by Microsoft.
Justin: Right, so it’s a web browser. It’s the one that everyone used to use back in the day and now there are so many options. There’s…
Diana: Sometimes they call it IE.
Justin: Yeah. There’s a lot of options now. There’s Google Chrome and Firefox and what else does anyone use?
Diana: Gosh, I think you can even still use… Is it Excite?
Justin: Oh, yeah.
Diana: I think you can still use that.
Justin: There are a lot of…
Diana: Netscape Navigator.
Justin: There are a lot of browsers out there. This is Internet Explorer. Really, I think this ties in… I mean here’s the deal. Internet Explorer is known in the technology world for having a lot of security holes and flaws that make it easy for someone really to gain access to your computer. That’s something that all around in the tech community we don’t really suggest using Internet Explorer unless you have to.
Diana: Right. Yes. Now, some people, it seems more obvious of a choice if you’re running a Windows program like XP, Vista, 7, or 8, and specifically of course we’ve talked recently about XP having….
Justin: Right. Exactly. Windows XP, any computer running Windows XP right now is at risk in general because the support for XP was discontinued by Microsoft as of April 8. I heard someone call into our office the other day and talk to a technician. Time gets away from everyone but they were really feeling like, “Why would Windows XP not be covered anymore?” Then our technician went through all the versions of operating systems that had been put out since Windows XP and it became apparent. Oh, wow, yeah, this is pretty dated technology. So, definitely one thing that’s no longer offered to Windows XP is the security updates. Anyone accessing the internet using XP is at higher risk for virus or malware. Really, that’s a bad enough problem but then using Internet Explorer is a bit risky no matter what operating systems you’re using.
Diana: Right, so if you’re coupling Internet Explorer with XP, you’re just kind of asking for trouble frankly.
Justin: Yeah, you need to get that changed. Change your operating system. Absolutely. So like I was saying, Internet Explorer is known for those security holes. The virus protection that you have might help but still a lot of malware will get through your virus protection software.
Diana: Yeah, and that’s one of the reasons that we suggest Google Chrome over all other browsers.
Justin: Yes.
Diana: Chrome is much faster. It’s simpler and it syncs with your emails, calendars, and a lot of features you might be using like extensions.
Justin: Right. Exactly. So, we really do recommend Google Chrome. It’s one of those kinds of things that it’s like why use… If you had the option to drive a fancier, better car for no money, why would you not drive a fancier, better car? In this case, I really believe that Chrome is.
Diana: But I like my old car.
Justin: Yeah, well I think sometimes you just need to upgrade and do something new.
Diana: There was a hole in Explorer that goes beyond XP, right? And that’s been released in the news as well. But Microsoft did release a patch which is automatically installed on your computers for all affected versions of Internet Explorer.
Justin: Right. That’s true.
Diana: But again, if you want to be on the extra safe side, use Google Chrome.
Justin: Absolutely. Use Google Chrome. Well, that does it for Tech Tuesday. Until next time…
Diana: Take care.
Justin: Tech Table is brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa, and God’s Country Radio. You can visit us online at askmpa.com.
Diana: If you have questions or comments, please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: And thanks for listening.
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