Alright, I hope everyone reads this because I'm tired of
fighting a pointless battle. I understand and respect the opinions
of people that people don't consider it a very bad idea to put wot
for internet explorer, but how you can rule out and completely
ignore anyone who has any objection at all against putting wot for
internet explorer is one of the merely ignorant considering the
long list of why wot isn't for internet explorer. Saying that we
have no reason to object, or saying that there's no reason at all
that one might take issue in putting wot for internet explorer is
ridiculous, and if that is your mindset after reading the rest of
this post, don't reply. Here are just some of many reasons that Wot
isn't for internet explorer.
A. Internet explorer is one of the most insecure browsers ever. It
has limited security features, especially in the old versions, and
very few people have the latest version of internet explorer due to
differences of many kinds. It doesn't block or even help to block
dangerous content like firefox does when you view a page or
download something. In internet explorer, it's not very difficult
for a toolbar to see EVERYTHING you do, and it's very possible for
a site to steal passwords you enter. Firefox helps to block out
some malicious coding when downloading content. And, since viruses
and all malicious attacks are always updating with better ways to
launch attacks, updating your browser regularly is important, to
defend yourself from these updated attacks. Most people who use
firefox have the latest version because firefox let's you customize
almost everything, so if there is something they update you don't
like besides security, it let's you with extensions, themes, etc.
Wot is still needed for firefox however, because no browser can
block all malicious content, therefor something to warn you is
needed. Anyone who knows much of anything about security would KNOW
that internet explorer is unsecure, and THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WE
WANT RATING WEBSITES!
B. Wot isn't for everyone. Internet explorer has many more people
then firefox. If the wot community becomes too big, ratings may
become more and more inaccurate. There are only so many people who
care about security, and migrating to internet explorer lessens the
chances of those few people using wot.
C. Since internet explorer blocks little or no malicious content,
and most people using it know little about security, a virus
installed before they had wot could easily tamper with their
ratings. Let me give you an example: Let's say someone installed
smiley central on their computer. Afterwards, they got wot. Now
let's say they rated green for every site they visit, unless it had
red signifying highly dangerous. Then they wouldn't rate it or
visit the site, This would give them a decent reputation. Let's
also pretend they didn't visit smileycentral.com after downloading
the software, since there really is no point of going back there in
the first place. All that's on the website are links to download
smiley central. So now they have dangerous smiley central and wot.
Smiley central after being downloaded (which by the way can only be
downloaded for internet explorer, since the makers of smiley
central know firefox would block a lot of their features) could
easily tamper with that trusted user's settings and adjust sites to
their liking. They may, for example, rate smiley central green.
This scenario is something that could easily happen and actually
happens a lot with other software in similar situations. The user
downloads something dangerous, then downloads other software
whether it is something that alerts people of unsafe sites or
software, or just a normal program, that is changed by a virus,
causing many interferences, usually leading the user to more
danger.
D. Internet explorer is made by Microsoft. If users trust and/or
like internet explorer, they may be persuaded to try other
microsoft products. Some of these are security products are
security products, such as windows defender. Windows defender is a
spyware scanner that catches very little. I only had it for a while
because it automatically scans and if you have something very VERY
bad on your computer, it will at least alert you. However if a user
has windows defender and no other scanner, or nothing but another
poorly made scanner, many things can happen. The user could be
tempted to try something wot says is dangerous just to see if wot
works, thinking they can easily remove it if it is dangerous. That
is the mindset of many internet explorer users. Continuing on, they
download it, and scan windows defender. It is very likely it will
come up saying no problems are found. Then they will rate that site
safe, in addition to the virus possibly tampering with wot,
changing ratings on other sites as well, as mentioned previously.
Another technique viruses use is making other programs look like
they are viruses. For example, the virus may make it hard to
uninstall any internet explorer add on, or even any program. At the
time, the user may only try and uninstall wot, and nothing else.
When they fail to do so, they will be led to believe wot is
dangerous. This could cause them to complain in forums, advise
others to not use wot or worse.
The list of reasons why wot shouldn't be released for internet
explorer could go on and on, but I'm going to stop there. I know of
course, if you look at it from a different angle, it may not be
entirely bad. For example, if people really didn't care about
security, they may not download wot in the first place. On the
other hand, people may just want to try it if it looks appealing.
But either way that doesn't help. If they know nothing about
security and do download it, that doesn't help, and if they don't
download it, well then there was no point in releasing wot for
internet explorer in the first place. I know you can argue that
some current firefox users like to use internet explorer on
occasion for certain components not shown on firefox, and would
like wot for it, but there's no reason to use internet explorer for
any amount of time or for any large number of websites when firefox
is available. Almost all of the components not shown in firefox are
for safety anyway.
I know there are some reasons people may want wot for internet
explorer because there are a few good things to it, but I
personally think wot should no longer be available for internet
explorer unless you split wot and firefox ratings. I mainly wrote
this though, in response to the people who think there's no reason
at all wot shouldn't be for internet explorer. There are reasons,
and I don't think you can disagree and say there aren't any reasons
after reading this.
We rate the websites, the WOT staff creates, and advertises the
add-on, and together, we make it all happen.
"I know you can argue that some current firefox users like
to use internet explorer on occasion for certain components not
shown on firefox, and would like wot for it"
Why wot isn't for internet explorer
Alright, I hope everyone reads this because I'm tired of fighting a pointless battle. I understand and respect the opinions of people that people don't consider it a very bad idea to put wot for internet explorer, but how you can rule out and completely ignore anyone who has any objection at all against putting wot for internet explorer is one of the merely ignorant considering the long list of why wot isn't for internet explorer. Saying that we have no reason to object, or saying that there's no reason at all that one might take issue in putting wot for internet explorer is ridiculous, and if that is your mindset after reading the rest of this post, don't reply. Here are just some of many reasons that Wot isn't for internet explorer.
A. Internet explorer is one of the most insecure browsers ever. It has limited security features, especially in the old versions, and very few people have the latest version of internet explorer due to differences of many kinds. It doesn't block or even help to block dangerous content like firefox does when you view a page or download something. In internet explorer, it's not very difficult for a toolbar to see EVERYTHING you do, and it's very possible for a site to steal passwords you enter. Firefox helps to block out some malicious coding when downloading content. And, since viruses and all malicious attacks are always updating with better ways to launch attacks, updating your browser regularly is important, to defend yourself from these updated attacks. Most people who use firefox have the latest version because firefox let's you customize almost everything, so if there is something they update you don't like besides security, it let's you with extensions, themes, etc. Wot is still needed for firefox however, because no browser can block all malicious content, therefor something to warn you is needed. Anyone who knows much of anything about security would KNOW that internet explorer is unsecure, and THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WE WANT RATING WEBSITES!
B. Wot isn't for everyone. Internet explorer has many more people then firefox. If the wot community becomes too big, ratings may become more and more inaccurate. There are only so many people who care about security, and migrating to internet explorer lessens the chances of those few people using wot.
C. Since internet explorer blocks little or no malicious content, and most people using it know little about security, a virus installed before they had wot could easily tamper with their ratings. Let me give you an example: Let's say someone installed smiley central on their computer. Afterwards, they got wot. Now let's say they rated green for every site they visit, unless it had red signifying highly dangerous. Then they wouldn't rate it or visit the site, This would give them a decent reputation. Let's also pretend they didn't visit smileycentral.com after downloading the software, since there really is no point of going back there in the first place. All that's on the website are links to download smiley central. So now they have dangerous smiley central and wot. Smiley central after being downloaded (which by the way can only be downloaded for internet explorer, since the makers of smiley central know firefox would block a lot of their features) could easily tamper with that trusted user's settings and adjust sites to their liking. They may, for example, rate smiley central green. This scenario is something that could easily happen and actually happens a lot with other software in similar situations. The user downloads something dangerous, then downloads other software whether it is something that alerts people of unsafe sites or software, or just a normal program, that is changed by a virus, causing many interferences, usually leading the user to more danger.
D. Internet explorer is made by Microsoft. If users trust and/or like internet explorer, they may be persuaded to try other microsoft products. Some of these are security products are security products, such as windows defender. Windows defender is a spyware scanner that catches very little. I only had it for a while because it automatically scans and if you have something very VERY bad on your computer, it will at least alert you. However if a user has windows defender and no other scanner, or nothing but another poorly made scanner, many things can happen. The user could be tempted to try something wot says is dangerous just to see if wot works, thinking they can easily remove it if it is dangerous. That is the mindset of many internet explorer users. Continuing on, they download it, and scan windows defender. It is very likely it will come up saying no problems are found. Then they will rate that site safe, in addition to the virus possibly tampering with wot, changing ratings on other sites as well, as mentioned previously. Another technique viruses use is making other programs look like they are viruses. For example, the virus may make it hard to uninstall any internet explorer add on, or even any program. At the time, the user may only try and uninstall wot, and nothing else. When they fail to do so, they will be led to believe wot is dangerous. This could cause them to complain in forums, advise others to not use wot or worse.
The list of reasons why wot shouldn't be released for internet explorer could go on and on, but I'm going to stop there. I know of course, if you look at it from a different angle, it may not be entirely bad. For example, if people really didn't care about security, they may not download wot in the first place. On the other hand, people may just want to try it if it looks appealing. But either way that doesn't help. If they know nothing about security and do download it, that doesn't help, and if they don't download it, well then there was no point in releasing wot for internet explorer in the first place. I know you can argue that some current firefox users like to use internet explorer on occasion for certain components not shown on firefox, and would like wot for it, but there's no reason to use internet explorer for any amount of time or for any large number of websites when firefox is available. Almost all of the components not shown in firefox are for safety anyway.
I know there are some reasons people may want wot for internet explorer because there are a few good things to it, but I personally think wot should no longer be available for internet explorer unless you split wot and firefox ratings. I mainly wrote this though, in response to the people who think there's no reason at all wot shouldn't be for internet explorer. There are reasons, and I don't think you can disagree and say there aren't any reasons after reading this.
We rate the websites, the WOT staff creates, and advertises the add-on, and together, we make it all happen.