Google Chrome, Firefox most vulnerable, Apple Safari safest, says report

Google Chrome has emerged on the top of a list, but not for a good reason! According to a new report by Atlas VPN, the world’s most popular browser, Google Chrome, has been named as the one with the most reported vulnerabilities- 303 vulnerabilities discovered year to date. This data is based on the vulnerability database recorded from January 1-October 5, 2022. Shockingly, among many browsers, Google Chrome is the only one with new vulnerabilities in the initial five days of October, which includes CVE-2022-3318, CVE-2022-3314, CVE-2022-3311, CVE-2022-3309, and CVE-2022-3307.

After Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox is at the second place with 117 vulnerabilities, followed by the Microsoft Edge which had 103 vulnerabilities as of October 5. It marks 61 percent more than the entire year of 2021. Next on the list is Apple Safari, which has some of the lowest levels of vulnerabilities on the list. The report mentioned that in the first three quarters of 2022, it only had 26 vulnerabilities. Since the release of Safari, the cumulative vulnerabilities stands at 1139. Surprisingly, the Opera browser hadn’t reported any vulnerabilities so far in 2022.

“While quite different in features, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera are all built on the Chromium engine. It means that Chromium vulnerabilities may impact all of these browsers,” atlasVPN report mentioned.

What should Chrome users do?

• You should keep your browser up to date. However, it is true that developers usually address it while releasing the patches. Installing browser updates will help you to lessen the chances of hacking. You will need to update your Google Chrome version 106.0.5249.61.
• The report advises users to be careful when choosing plug-ins. “While convenient, browser-plugins can also have vulnerabilities or, even worse — be malicious. Choose browser plug-ins only from reliable providers, and always ensure the latest updates are installed,” the report mentioned.
• Keep an eye on the phishing attacks. Hackers usually use phishing techniques to distribute exploiting kits to implant vulnerabilities in your browser. It is advised to not open emails or messages from unknown senders. Also, never click on links or open attachments which seem malicious.