English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

I've actually made some major headway on finding content that could make a featured appearance in the group 6 white paper. The content includes some data on the number of vulnerabilities on each browser, and some details on network security control features.

My most recent research efforts have led me to the National Vulnerability Database, which can display vulnerability data on thousands of programs according to a variety of possible criteria. This will be extremely useful for making direct, objective security comparisons between the three browsers, which should make a pretty strong supporting statement in the form of one or several bar graphs.

I found the database through a link I found in another helpful source, this PDF containing analysis of the vulnerabilities of IE and Firefox. The analysis actually uses information from the database extensively in several charts. My use of the data for comparisons will be similar to some of the graphs within the PDF, such as the one on page 4, but will use more up-to-date information on all three browsers (including Opera). The PDF includes a further discussion of some other issues, like frequency of new version releases and duration of support for old versions. The PDF author isn't very clear about his sources for this information, but the analysis gives some interesting insight on updates required to keep security updates current, which would definitely be of consequence to an IT professional. There are links to sources at the end of the PDF that could help round out some information and tighten up references. It's worth noting that in the last section, the author identifies himself as working for windows, which causes me concerns about bias that might prevent me from using his information directly, instead doing my own mini-analysis using his sources.

Another area I looked into was functionality within the browser that would allow a network administrator to enhance security by setting up browser settings, such as IE's Network Protocol Lockdown and Firefox's Mission Control. I think the key here is that IE's protocol lockdown works in the backdrop of a network of Windows systems, in whose function the feature presumably integrated, whereas Firefox's Mission control can only load settings once the application is started, which leaves a small window for an individual machine to "escape" control. I was not able to find any similar features for Opera, but if one exists, it would more likely have the same disadvantage that Firefox's Mission Control has. This information will probably make it into the white paper under the advantages of IE, and could be included in a text-based comparison chart of network control features.

This research requires a little bit more digging and a bit of data formatting, but it provides a strong foundation for understanding and judging criteria that an IT professional would be interested in.

Also, I enjoyed this slightly unrelated blog about Google Chrome.