IE8 more secure than Firefox

A report on Browser Security testing by NSS Labs shows that Internet Explorer 8 security is far better than Firefox, catching 81 percent of "live threats" vs. only 54 percent caught by Firefox 3, which came in second place.

The tests include rating the browser's protection against malicious software using socially engineering and phishing attacks.

The lab tested the most recent versions of Microsoft's IE8, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera. Opera caught a mere 2 percent of the threats.

IE8 is gr8

I installed the newly released IE 8 and am already liking the enhancements.

• Web Accelerators looks like something I'll use a lot, for example:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/videos.aspx?mname=accelerators
• Automatic Crash Recovery (tab closes, not all of IE).
• Web Slices.
• Faster page display.
• Better pro-active built-in security (domain highlighting, SmartScreen filter -- sites ID'd with Spyware or PII collection get a pop-up warning [I assume it uses a database, so frequent updating is hopefully provided].
• InPrivate browsing, easier data deletion/cleanup.
• Compatibility mode for pages coded for older browsers (with compatibility updates pulled from MS as available).
• Love the grouped, suggested URLs as you start typing in the address bar.
• Oooo ... a "Read mail" toolbar icon automatically opened my Thunderbird email.

Next I'll have to see if FireFox 3.5 will match or beat that. As of now, IE8 is my preferred browser experience.

Firefox less secure?

Firefox has often been touted as fundamentally "more secure" than Internet Explorer. If you have been led to believe that, you need to look at some cold, hard facts:

• From March to September 2005 (yes, even as early as 2005), FireFox had 40 vulnerabilities to IE's 10. [ZDNet article]
• From April through September 2005, the number of published Firefox exploits was 11 compared to IE's 6.
• The most recent FireFox-related security problem is that some Russian criminals are using it to add malicious software as a "Plug-In". The malware detects when you connect to any of over 100 banks and then steals your account name and password, sending them to the criminals. [read the SC Magazine article]
• In terms of vulnerability numbers reported in March 2008, Opera had the most, followed by Safari, FireFox, then Internet Explorer.

The biggest problem with malware is not the browser, it's the person using the browser. People are either too trusting of links and unknown sites or just think they will never get attacked.

Computing to help others

A recent New York Times story highlighted a couple of Computer Science students at Georgia Tech who show us all some of the exciting possibilities of helping others through computing.

The project students started out small -- based on some blood suppy spreadsheets at the CDC in Atlanta. As they delved into the real issue and talked with real users in Africa, the project has blossomed into a web-enabled application using Ajax.

In January, 14 African nations will start using this program. It must be impressive -- the United Nations Worldwide Health Organization (WHO) is discussing making this a program for reporting on blood supplies worldwide.

• Computing for Good: Web technology to solve human problems

IE 7 Add-ons make surfing better

Internet Explorer 7 is a nice browser, but certainly not perfect. I also have Firefox installed on my PC, though I routinely use IE7. Among other things, online Blogger post editing seems to come out better than Firefox. No browser is perfect.

Case in point -- spell checking. I like the Firefox spell checking feature. Well, if you are an IE7 user, there's a free spell check add-on (but I like the Firefox implementation better). Actually, there are different add-ons that let you add features or customize IE7 more to your liking.

Here are a few IE add-ons that I wish Microsoft had included in IE7:

• IE Spell (See IE7Pro below, though). Note that this spell check is only for form fields and similar ares to be filled in -- not for general web page views. It works fine within the Blogger post editing area, for example, though you have to manually force the check.
• Inline Search (from IE Forge. See IE7Pro, below, though.)
• Add Search Providers (surprisingly, from Microsoft)

Other handy Add-ons:

• IE7Pro. IE7Pro adds several features, including Spell check and inline searching. The IE7Pro spell checks as you type, unlike the spell check on request method of "IE Spell" (above). That can be a blessing or a curse -- you decide.
  Note: IE7Pro didn't function well on my system, perhaps due to a couple of other browser helper objects installed. It crashed on use.
• Web Developer Toolbar
• Feed Folder. I prefer the IE7 Feed display in the left pane, but if you like Firefox's feed display better, check out Feed Folder.

Non-Microsoft security updates

Several security updates came out recently for products other than Microsoft ones, although a couple apply only if you are using Internet Explorer version 7. If you have the following software, make sure you get the patches:

• Adobe Acrobat 8
  
• Adobe Reader 8.1.1
  
• Apple Quicktime 7.2
  
• Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.8
  

Another PC protection layer

Even firewalls can let in exploit code from malicious (or hacked) web sites. That's where LinkScanner (and its paid subscription brother LinkScanner Pro) from Exploit Prevention Labs (XPL) comes in. LinkScanner checks the results of searches and shows icons that reflect the safety of the site. Hovering your mouse cursor over an icon adds details.

CNET and PC Magazine both have reviews of LinkScanner and the Pro version. As they both advise, it checks well for exploits, but rely on other software to plug the holes in detecting phishing sites. LinkScanner works with FireFox, Internet Explorer, and Opera.

A recent article in USA Today on web page exploit attacks describes some traps that hackers set on a broad range of web sites. LinkScanner appears to be one more layer you should have in your multi-layered defense of your computer.

User Agent String Utility gives IE7 access

Some web sites don't respond well to Internet Explorer 7. That's usually because they have hard-coded various browser versions into their web page code and have not updated it to add IE7 to the list.

So though many (most?) web sites have updated their code or never hard-coded the browser versions to start with, some present challenges. On the other hand, I have not run into any public web pages with this problem yet.

As a temporary workaround (until those sites fix their code), you can use Microsoft's special User Agent String Utility to let IE7 access sites that currently block it.

Zoom vs. text size in IE 7

Internet Explorer 7 has many new features to help you as you surf. One I like is the "Zoom" feature.

First, let's be clear. "Zoom" is not the same as "Text size" in IE 7. Changing the text size does only that -- increases or decreases the size of the text on the page. If what looks like text is really part of an image, it does not change. "Zoom" make the entire page enlarge or shrink. That also means that as you enlarge the page, it will (usually) eventually exceed the window area and the left and right parts of the web page will be "cut off" in the view.

So text size and zoom each have their uses.

In the lower right of the (bottom area) status bar, you see a zoom percentage. You have several options to changing the "zoom": level

• Click on the zoom number. This rotates through a three zoom levels (125%, 150%, 100%).
• Click on the down-arrow to the right of the zoom percentage, then select one of the set levels you want to view or choose "Custom view".
• If you have a wheel mouse, hold down on the keyboard's "Control" key (often marked "Ctrl") and rotate the mouse wheel. Rolling toward your body decreases the zoom by 10%. Rotating the wheel away from your body increases the zoom by 10%.
• Hold down on the Control key and then press the plus (+) or minus (-) key to zoom in or out by 10%.