Running Firefox or Opera as a default browser <A HREF="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2185307,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594">won't save you from unpatched Internet Explorer vulnerabilities</A>--a fact made explicit when a researcher showed how easy it is to put HTML inside files supported by Windows Media Player.

Researcher Petko D. Petkov said in a Sept. 18 blog posting that he's found that a fully patched Windows XP Service Pack 2 system running Internet Explorer 6 or 7 along with Windows Media Player 9--the default, although the media player is now up to Version 11--will open any page of an attacker's choice even if the default browser is not Internet Explorer.