Yahoo! is joining the browser wars with its very own Axis browser, which has a focus on the increasing presence in mobile web.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) the pioneer internet firm has launched its very own browser, Axis so that it can compete with other more established browsers such as Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Explorer.
The new Yahoo product is an app that can be used on mobile devices, like the iPad, and the iPhone as well as an add-on to other more established browsers.
Yahoo! made the foray in to search engine since mobile browsing and computing is getting more popular with each passing day.
Yahoo! with its new Axis browser is trying to get a position among the three largest search engines, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) which controls 64% of all search market, Microsoft’s Bing which has 14% of the market, and Yahoo search, which is also powered by Bing having 16% of the market.
However, Yahoo! which has been struggling of late with a poor showing seems to have given the market an unfinished product, shooting itself in the foot.
For one, the terms of service page is missing. When one searches for the terms of service, a placeholder informs them, that the terms will go here. Seriously! The terms are essentially non existent in the new browser which has been described as a really aggressive product that basically removes the middleman, and takes visitors straight to the desired page while skipping the query process.
But this is not the only thing that the developers of Axis forgot. It seems that the new browser extension leaks its private certificate file. This means that it is possible for counterfeit extensions to be made from the original.
A hacker and blogger Nik Cubrilovic says that with the counterfeit extensions, it can be possible to capture passwords, cookies, traffic and much more with a spoofed page. In order to install the fake extension, a DNS spoof can be used to update the extension, and it will be installed easily. Therefore, the breach that Axis is exposing to its clients and visitors is huge, and could have major repercussions.
Yahoo! responding to the claims said that they had taken to steps to rectify the situation, and had disabled the chrome extension. They also added that the key in question had been blacklisted with Google.
It would therefore seem that Scott Thompson is not the only one causing Yahoo! lots of embarrassments, because this error in the new browser is simply not a great start, to a product described as game changing.
