If you are reading this and are using an old version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer then you really need to update it. According to findings from the Swiss Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory, most IE users can't be bothered to upgrade their browser to the latest version and are putting their computers at risk by doing so.

The research, carried out by the team, alongside the likes of IBM and Google, found that over 600 million users of the Microsoft browser didn't stay up to date with patching. In contrast, the research found that 84 percent of users of Mozilla's Firefox did keep updated with the latest version of that software.

"Failure to apply patches promptly or missing them entirely is a recipe for disaster," the report's authors wrote.

The researchers recommended that browsers have a supermarket-style "best before" date, after which presumably the browser will smell a bit off and have to be thrown in recycle bin.

While over four-in-five Firefox users could feel justifibly smug with their viglant patching,  65 percent of Safari users, 56 percent of Opera users and 47 percent of Internet Explorer users were bothered, or knew how to keep up to date with security.

However, the researchers then rounded on browser plug-ins as another source of malware bother for internet users. "Vulnerable plug-ins that are accessible (and exploitable) through the web browser extend the insecurity iceberg and form the part hidden below the water surface," the report authors said.

It said that browsers, such as Firefox, that automatically updated, not just the browser, but plug-ins and extensions, "do better in terms of faster update adoption rates than those without," it said.

Those of you suitably worried about your browser's (lack of) security can update it via the link on the right hand side of this page.