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The German government has warned its citizenry against the use of the Firefox browser due to security issues.
The warning from the Federal Office for Information Security is an echo of a similar pronouncement it made against Internet Explorer in January.
The office warned that the Firefox vulnerability, confirmed by Firefox makers, could allow hackers to run malicious programs on users' computers.
A version of Firefox to be released at the end of the month will fix the bug.
A "beta" or test version of that release, Firefox 3.6.2, is already available but has not yet been fully tested.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has recommended that users stop using Firefox until the tested fix is released - in a move remarkably similar to the January announcement, in which France followed suit just days later.
Fox swap?
The Firefox vulnerability was confirmed by maker Mozilla last week on its security blog, when it promised that the next official release would address the issue.
It is only the current version, Firefox 3.6, that is affected, and given that prior releases have different vulnerabilities, reverting to an older version of the browser is ill-advised.
Switching to a different browser may not be a good solution either, said Graham Cluley, senior technologist at security firm Sophos.
"Switching your web browser willy-nilly as each new unpatched security hole is revealed could cause more problems than it's worth," he said.
"What are you going to do when your replacement browser itself turns out to contain a vulnerability?
"My advice is to only switch from Firefox if you really know what you are doing with the browser you're swapping to. If you stick with Firefox, apply the security update as soon as it's available."
The warning from the Federal Office for Information Security is an echo of a similar pronouncement it made against Internet Explorer in January.
The office warned that the Firefox vulnerability, confirmed by Firefox makers, could allow hackers to run malicious programs on users' computers.
A version of Firefox to be released at the end of the month will fix the bug.
A "beta" or test version of that release, Firefox 3.6.2, is already available but has not yet been fully tested.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has recommended that users stop using Firefox until the tested fix is released - in a move remarkably similar to the January announcement, in which France followed suit just days later.
Fox swap?
The Firefox vulnerability was confirmed by maker Mozilla last week on its security blog, when it promised that the next official release would address the issue.
It is only the current version, Firefox 3.6, that is affected, and given that prior releases have different vulnerabilities, reverting to an older version of the browser is ill-advised.
Switching to a different browser may not be a good solution either, said Graham Cluley, senior technologist at security firm Sophos.
"Switching your web browser willy-nilly as each new unpatched security hole is revealed could cause more problems than it's worth," he said.
"What are you going to do when your replacement browser itself turns out to contain a vulnerability?
"My advice is to only switch from Firefox if you really know what you are doing with the browser you're swapping to. If you stick with Firefox, apply the security update as soon as it's available."
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