Internet Explorer 8 Still the Best at Staying Safe

[z3r010]

Back in August, I wrote a blog post about how Internet Explorer 8 offers the best protection against socially engineered malware threats. This week, NSS Labs released a new study that continues to show Internet Explorer 8 to be the #1 browser in blocking malware! When the first study was revealed, the Internet Explorer Team announced that Internet Explorer 8’s SmartScreen Filter had provided over 80 million blocks of malware. Almost a year after Internet Explorer 8 shipped, Internet Explorer 8’s SmartScreen Filter has provided over 560 million blocks of malware – averaging over 3 million blocks per day! Wow.

The SmartScreen Filter uses a special URL Reputation Service (URS) with data centers hosted around the world and has evaluated over 250 billion URLs to help keep Internet Explorer 8 users safe! Every day, the SmartScreen Filter URS processes about 4.1 billion URLs looking for malicious websites and files; and since it was first introduced in Internet Explorer 7, the URS has processed over 5.7 trillion requests!

Malware is the biggest and most common security threat facing people browsing the Internet today, and Microsoft is investing heavily in keeping people protected while using Internet Explorer with features like the SmartScreen Filter, Protected Mode, DEP, and more. Check out this post on the IEBlog for more info about the NSS Labs study and how to make sure the SmartScreen Filter is turned on. If you’re not already running Internet Explorer 8, or haven’t upgraded, this is a great reason!

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[severedsolo]

forgive me if i treat this with a pinch of salt.... the people who wrote this article obviously either work for microsoft or have some affiliation with them

 

[RST101]

forgive me if i treat this with a pinch of salt.... the people who wrote this article obviously either work for microsoft or have some affiliation with them

Exactly! It's on a windows team blog.

 

[severedsolo]

i was referring to that, i didnt know if it was actually windows team, or if it was just an unofficial thing, much like sevenforums

 

[pezzonovante]

IE8 in protected mode in Windows 7 is by far the safest way to browse the internet. Firefox is highly vulnerable.

 

[Staple Head]

IE8 in protected mode in Windows 7 is by far the safest way to browse the internet. Firefox is highly vulnerable.

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao: :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

 

[severedsolo]

can i see some facts to back that up please? i use firefox, i have no problems,

in fact the safest way to browse the internet is to STAY AWAY FROM DODGY SITES its like walking into a brothel, waving your wallet in the air shouting "i won i won!" then complaining you got mugged....

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

IE8 in protected mode in Windows 7 is by far the safest way to browse the internet. Firefox is highly vulnerable.

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao: :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

I trust IE over any other browser. Of course I still use Chrome just for its speed. I prefer speed.

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

can i see some facts to back that up please? i use firefox, i have no problems,

in fact the safest way to browse the internet is to STAY AWAY FROM DODGY SITES its like walking into a brothel, waving your wallet in the air shouting "i won i won!" then complaining you got mugged....

YOU have no problems. You just said it. Everyone gets different results.

I agree that the safest way to stay safe is staying away from dodgy sites.

 

[Klaw117]

IE8 in protected mode in Windows 7 is by far the safest way to browse the internet. Firefox is highly vulnerable.

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao: :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

He or she is most likely talking about the default built-in security. IE in Protected Mode may initially have more security, but say you install the AdBlock Plus and NoScript add-ons for Firefox. I think we can agree that those will increase the security of Firefox dramatically.

I myself use IE x64 (make a Adobe Flash x64 dammit!) and Firefox about the same amount. Firefox is mostly devoted towards YouTube and Google searches because I have the Optimize Google add-on, which prevents Google from infringing my privacy (I'm paranoid, I know. This is also why I refuse to use Google Chrome).

 

[fseal]

For IE you don't have to add anying to get script protection, though it is off by default.

Simply lower the trustworthyness for internet sites and use the "trusted sites" as they are supposed to be used and you are 1000 times safer than the stock way it ships.

 

[jimbo45]

can i see some facts to back that up please? i use firefox, i have no problems,

in fact the safest way to browse the internet is to STAY AWAY FROM DODGY SITES its like walking into a brothel, waving your wallet in the air shouting "i won i won!" then complaining you got mugged....

But "Dr Watson" how do you know IF a site is dodgy -- these days they aren't all designed by "amateurishly simple young folks just venturing out into their first piece of geekdom".

Some sites these days are DEVILISHLY SMART and you have to be quite knowlegable to spot if the site you are looking at is the real one and not a "Socially Engineered cloned one".

There's BIG money in this - so its now way beyond a few spotty youths creating simple viruses / trojans -- it's now sophisticated ORGANISED CRIME -- and these people can pay THE BEST MONEY that research can buy which is why only giants like MS will have the resources to compete with these people.

That's why MS's URL check -- while of course not 100% secure is better than anything else out there at the moment.

You've only got to see how firms by changing their keywords etc on their sites manage to "poodlefake" the Google search engine for putting them up higher on the search list than they would otherwise be.

So long as scripts run inside a browser -- any browser -- it's vulnerable.

All we can do is hope that the integrated checks that MS and others build in make the browsers secure.

Personally I always use an ISOLATED SEPARATE machine for Internet browsing that ONLY has the browser on it -- NO other apps at all -- straight Windows OS install from the box plus any video / print drivers I need. NOTHING ELSE installed.

These days you can pick up a machine that is good for this purpose for almost NOTHING at a local tip (or "re-cycling center") - otherwise just create a Virtual machine for your browsing and downloading and scan the downloads.

Using an Isolated Real or Virtual machine for Internet browsing will protect against personal data etc being "lifted" by malware etc - and in the event of infection you haven't got to "cleanse" it or anything -- just wipe the disk and restore another image from backup.

No applications hosed up etc - especially if you CHECK and DOUBLE CHECK everything you download BEFORE moving to your Real working machine.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[severedsolo]

i apologise, you are right about social engineered sites, i was taking objection to the fact that the person i was replying to was implying that all you need to do to stay safe online is run IE8 and if you run firefox then you are automatically lesss secure,

i would argue that my machine which is running Firefox and is properly secured, is probably alot safer than quite a few peoples machines running IE who dont know what their doing.

the fact is no user "automatically" became more secure SIMPLY by switching browser,
for instance: the user wants to watch a movie with a dodgy codec,
it doesnt matter if your running IE Firefox, Safari, Windows, Mac Osx, etc. the user WANTS to watch the video, he/she will jump through the hoops required,

thus i repute the original statement

 

[gladson1976]

For IE you don't have to add anying to get script protection, though it is off by default.

Simply lower the trustworthyness for internet sites and use the "trusted sites" as they are supposed to be used and you are 1000 times safer than the stock way it ships.

How many IE users know there is an option called "Script Protection" and how many of those who know it, know how to turn it on?
The same logic applies for "Trusted Sites".

Even if it is there, its useless unless its turned on.

i apologise, you are right about social engineered sites, i was taking objection to the fact that the person i was replying to was implying that all you need to do to stay safe online is run IE8 and if you run firefox then you are automatically lesss secure,

i would argue that my machine which is running Firefox and is properly secured, is probably alot safer than quite a few peoples machines running IE who dont know what their doing.

the fact is no user "automatically" became more secure SIMPLY by switching browser,
for instance: the user wants to watch a movie with a dodgy codec,
it doesnt matter if your running IE Firefox, Safari, Windows, Mac Osx, etc. the user WANTS to watch the video, he/she will jump through the hoops required,

thus i repute the original statement

I agree with that severedsolo. Just because someone switches the browser they are using doesn't mean they are safe. The user has to take the extra step to protect themselves, no matter which browser they use.

 

[fseal]

And the same applies for average FF users adding NoScript.

All too often I hear people say that JUST installing FF makes you safer and it really doesn't.

As others have said the USER is reposnsible for securing and using their browser in a safe manner with ALL current browsers.

Instead of the pointless arguing over who is safer than who, (here and everywhere). Discussions about the ways to quickly secure your broswer of choice and make safe browsing descisions (email too) are FAR more productive in keeping the general populace safe.

Governments, websites and even people mandating browser choices are COMPLETELY off base WRT internet safety

Give a user a "safe" browser and he'll be safe for two days. Teach a user to browse safely and he'll be safe his entire life...

 

[severedsolo]

agreed, i have to admit, so called "browser security" doesnt influence my choice of browser, i use firefox because i like firefox.... i have an NAT firewall with built in DOS protection, an anvtivirus, antispyware, a Software firewall, threatfire, and most importantly a huge dollop of common sense if someones really wants to do some harm to my computer and they can get beyond all that, then my choice of browser isnt going to make much difference....

 

[KazeNoKoe23]

IE8 in protected mode in Windows 7 is by far the safest way to browse the internet. Firefox is highly vulnerable.

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao: :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

I fail to see what's so funny about his post. If Protected Mode is enabled, drive-by malware installations are virtually impossible, as nothing can get past IE's temp folder. Firefox is more vulnerable in this respect, and I'm a devoted Firefox user.

 

[motc7]

I'm so glad, because it sure stopped a mutated version of Vundo that I am still working to get rid of.


Seriously, what a fat load of crap.

 

[CarlTR6]

agreed, i have to admit, so called "browser security" doesnt influence my choice of browser, i use firefox because i like firefox.... i have an NAT firewall with built in DOS protection, an anvtivirus, antispyware, a Software firewall, threatfire, and most importantly a huge dollop of common sense if someones really wants to do some harm to my computer and they can get beyond all that, then my choice of browser isnt going to make much difference....

Well stated.

 

[Klaw117]

For IE you don't have to add anying to get script protection, though it is off by default.

Simply lower the trustworthyness for internet sites and use the "trusted sites" as they are supposed to be used and you are 1000 times safer than the stock way it ships.

I noticed this, but it's very complicated. I just tried playing around with it and it's much harder to use than Firefox's NoScript add-on.