Windows 7: Internet Explorer 8 SmartScreen Filter Reaches Important Milestone

JMH · 24 Jul 2010

Quote:

The SmartScreen team just informed me that we’ve reached an amazing milestone – Internet Explorer 8 has blocked 1 billion attempts to download malware!

Socially engineering attacks like malware are a growing threat on the internet and are one of the most common risks to people’s safety online. We introduced malware protection in Internet Explorer 8 as part of the SmartScreen Filter and have talked about it on the Windows Experience Blog a couple of times over the last year.

Here are a couple of quick facts about Internet Explorer and malware as we hit this 1 billion blocks milestone:

NSS Labs have recognized the Internet Explorer 8 SmartScreen Filter as a leader in protection against Socially Engineered Malware in their August 2009 and March 2010 reports which compared Internet Explorer 8 to Chrome, Firefox and others.
Our malware block rates continue to improve because we continue to improve the SmartScreen service back-end. For example, in August 2009 we had blocked about 70 million attempts to download malware or about 18 million blocks per month. At the time, according to Net Applications, about 15% of the internet population used Internet Explorer 8. In the last two months, we’ve blocked 100 million attempts to download malware. Last month, according to Net Applications, nearly 26% of the internet population uses Internet Explorer 8. There are 1.7 times more users on Internet Explorer 8 than August 2009 but we’re blocking 5 times more malware month on month.

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Internet Explorer 8 SmartScreen Filter Reaches Important Milestone

JonM33 · 24 Jul 2010

I've been using Firefox and now Opera. No malware on my PC (after MSE and MBAM scans) so IE8 wouldn't make a difference.

Tepid · 24 Jul 2010

Honestly, IE8 blocking that many attempts is staggering.
This is good news... So be happy about it.

Firefox and Opera = Security through Obscurity, and even Firefox is being targeted now for malware attacks.

JonM33 · 24 Jul 2010

Quote: Originally Posted by Tepid

Honestly, IE8 blocking that many attempts is staggering.
This is good news... So be happy about it.

Firefox and Opera = Security through Obscurity, and even Firefox is being targeted now for malware attacks.

http://www.securiteam.com/products/

Internet Explorer vulnerabilities (143)
Firefox vulnerabilities (63)
Opera vulnerabilities (45)

IE, over history, has more than Firefox and Opera COMBINED.

archie123 · 25 Jul 2010

i have never had any malware on any pc running any browser ive ever owned (apart from the early days when i didnt know what anti virus was

)

Its all a load of advertising bunkum , their all the same just use the one you like best stay away from dodgy pron sites and run a configured hardware firewall and your good to go

marsmimar · 25 Jul 2010

Depending on which magazine article or writer you listen to, Internet Explorer (all versions) has about 60% of the market share. Firefox (all versions) has about 25% of the market with Chrome, Safari and Opera rounding out the bottom three. Almost two and a half times as many people use IE compared to Firefox. And that means IE is going to be targeted more often because more people can be affected.

I don't care what browser a person uses, or what antivirus, or what antispyware is on a machine. Stuff will happen if people forget about PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair.)

BomberAF · 25 Jul 2010

1 billion blocks isn't really that many when you think how many PC's are connected to the web, and then consider how many internet searches are performed per day. It would be trillions per year, so like I said the number isn't really that big a deal.

JonM33 · 25 Jul 2010

Quote: Originally Posted by marsmimar

Depending on which magazine article or writer you listen to, Internet Explorer (all versions) has about 60% of the market share. Firefox (all versions) has about 25% of the market with Chrome, Safari and Opera rounding out the bottom three. Almost two and a half times as many people use IE compared to Firefox. And that means IE is going to be targeted more often because more people can be affected.

I don't care what browser a person uses, or what antivirus, or what antispyware is on a machine. Stuff will happen if people forget about PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair.)

Usage share of web browsers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Firefox actually has 31%, Chrome 8.3%, Safari 4.9% and Opera 2%. IE (all versions) only has 51.1% of the market.

Tepid · 25 Jul 2010

And anythin on WikiPedia should be taken with a grain of salt. Cause it can be edited by anyone at any time.
I do not trust wikipedia completely as a loan 100% trusted resource.

JonM33 · 25 Jul 2010

Quote: Originally Posted by Tepid

And anythin on WikiPedia should be taken with a grain of salt. Cause it can be edited by anyone at any time.
I do not trust wikipedia completely as a loan 100% trusted resource.

Wikipedia must have references. Those references are listed in the article (at the bottom).