When attackers look for vulnerabilities, they target popular software. Why bother chasing flaws in applications that few people use?
That’s why one of my best friends runs a third-party application instead of Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and read PDF documents. Another friend runs the Maxthon browser to stay out of the way of exploits that target more popular browsers.
Does running less popular software really reduce risk? Yes, it probably does a little bit. But most of us don’t pick what software we run purely because of security. We pick software and hardware based on features, familiarity, support, and so on. The world’s most secure software programs usually rank among the least popular, even when they are free and very functional.
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