Automatic Updates Coming to Internet Explorer in 2012

Silent updating for Internet Explorer will be implemented on a gradual basis, with Australia and Brazil being the first countries targeted for January.  The process will include users of the Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 operating systems.  Internet Explorer 8 will be the upgrade destination for Windows XP users, while Windows Vista and Windows 7 users will be automatically upgraded to the newer version of Internet Explorer 9. 

Microsoft’s reasoning behind the move towards automatic updating was explained in a recent post on the Exploring IE blog.  In short, by putting the latest, most updated version of Internet Explorer in the hands of users, online security would increase, as many attacks around the web are created to take advantage of vulnerabilities found in outdated software.  Internet Explorer’s GM of business and marketing Ryan Gavin put it simply by saying, “The Web overall is better—and safer—when more people run the most up-to-date browser.”

One of the main changes that will come with automatic updating is the absence of a dialog box to confirm an Internet Explorer update.  Users who choose to enable automatic updates in the past were often presented with these dialog boxes as notifications, but that will change as the new process is slowly rolled out across the globe.

Microsoft explained that only users who have automatic updates enabled for their Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 operating systems will be experience the changes.  The company also offered two options that will be available to users who do not wish to partake in the transition that will result in updates occurring in the background.  The first option is to disable automatic updates.  The danger of choosing this option is that users could miss important updates released to patch critical vulnerabilities, leaving them open to attacks.  The second option is to uninstall Internet Explorer altogether, which obviously removes the browser’s functionality completely.  “Customers who have declined previous installations of IE8 or IE9 through Windows Update will not be automatically updated,” Gavin added.

Users browsing with Internet Explorer 10 and any further versions will be presented with an opt-out setting that will give them the power to disable automatic upgrades.  If a user is running the most recent version of Internet Explorer, they will receive the automatic updates that will be downloaded and installed minus the need for any human interaction.  This will obviously be seen by some as a positive, since the interruption factor will be diminished.  Others, however, may worry about possible problems that could arise from silent updating, and how hackers will try to exploit such a system.

Since security updates for Internet Explorer are released separately from browser updates, they will not be affected.  Microsoft usually packages these updates as part of its Patch Tuesday ritual that occurs every other month.  As for business users, Microsoft noted that its own Blocker Toolkits can be downloaded to automatically disable the delivery of new versions of Internet Explorer to help maintain uniformity and avoid any disruptions.

Microsoft’s implementation of silent, automatic updating is not an industry first.  Google immediately began automatic updates for its Chrome web browser when it was introduced three years ago.  Mozilla said it plans to launch its Firefox Update Service in April of next year when it releases Firefox 12 that will enable silent updating.  Adobe joined the movement as well, announcing it would enable automatic updating for its Reader and Acrobat X programs.  As for why, Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, said, “Silent updating is generally seen as a big improvement to security on the Internet.”

The fact that Internet Explorer is so widely used makes updating even more of an urgent issue for Microsoft.  Net Applications, a market research firm, placed Internet Explorer’s browser market share at 52 percent.  That number has dropped steadily over the years with the growing popularity of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, but it still represents a massive amount of online users.  According to Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at Sophos, an excessive amount of Internet Explorer loyalists are running older versions of the browser.  He stated that 8.3 percent of users across the globe are still browsing on the ten-year old Internet Explorer 6.  While some of those using outdated versions of Internet Explorer are doing so for business purposes and compatibility issues, many choose to be left behind, for they feel there is no urgent need to upgrade.

For more on this topic, visit http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Microsoft-Internet-Explorer-Will-Update-Automatically-in-2012-862857/