Report: IE10 Most Secure Windows 8 Browser
NSS Labs has released a new edition of its security report that evaluates a browser's ability to block socially engineered malware.
The results reflect the ranking of the previously released report in August of 2011 and found Internet Explorer (version 10) to be the safest browser in this discipline under Windows 8. NSS Labs said that IE10 blocked 99.1 percent of the malware it was exposed to (virtually dead-even with the 99.2 percent result from August of last year), but Chrome improved its 13.2 percent result to 70.4 percent due to the integration of enhanced file-based reputation screening.
IE's reputation blocking accounted for 10.6 percent of IE's malware blocking, up from 3.2 percent last year. Firefox fell from 7.6 percent to 4.2 percent and is now listed behind Safari which dropped from 7.6 percent to 4.3 percent. Opera was not included in the review this year.
"Web browsers are the first line of defense for consumers and enterprises alike as they can prevent malware from reaching the operating system," said Randy Abrams, research director at NSS Labs.
"Windows 8 users should pay attention to the effects on security their choice of browser makes. A few milliseconds faster web page rendering will not compensate for the time spent recovering from malware infections, so security must be a high consideration when selecting a web browser."
NSS Labs said that the evaluation was not sponsored and was based on 91,000 test cases conducted in September 2012.
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Wolfgang Gruener is an experienced professional in digital strategy and content, specializing in web strategy, content architecture, user experience, and applying AI in content operations within the insurtech industry. His previous roles include Director, Digital Strategy and Content Experience at American Eagle, Managing Editor at TG Daily, and contributing to publications like Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware.
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Neverdyne Pretty impressive, if they only made IE as responsive and fast as Chrome I would consider switching, but as it stands for "experienced" users like I who spend more time than the recommended daily dose on the internet, we probably know how to protect ourselves fairly well already; though I can see how this could add value for the average consumer. The people who don't know when to pull out of a dangerous website should get protection strapped to them I guess.Reply -
joytech22 NeverdynePretty impressive, if they only made IE as responsive and fast as Chrome I would consider switching, but as it stands for "experienced" users like I who spend more time than the recommended daily dose on the internet, we probably know how to protect ourselves fairly well already; though I can see how this could add value for the average consumer. The people who don't know when to pull out of a dangerous website should get protection strapped to them I guess.Reply
IE is already pretty fast, loading time differences between browsers on a good connection aren't really noticeable.
What gets me is the features the browsers provide. That's what attracts me.
If we compared by speed, Opera would probably win.
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azraa NeverdynePretty impressive, if they only made IE as responsive and fast as Chrome I would consider switching, but as it stands for "experienced" users like I who spend more time than the recommended daily dose on the internet, we probably know how to protect ourselves fairly well already; though I can see how this could add value for the average consumer. The people who don't know when to pull out of a dangerous website should get protection strapped to them I guess.Reply
If they dont mind getting a more intrusive and, overall, slower browser, then I think its fine.
I've lost count of the number of PCs filled with bloatware and spam from unexperienced clients I've had to repair/optimize, so I think its the right choice. Windows 8 is an OS planned for the consumer anyway, power users and gamers probably dont receive very well all this... noobish(?) stuff W8 comes with
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jhansonxi The report is about browsers filtering/blocking reportedly malicious web sites and downloads. Quote:Reply
That means nineteen out of twenty socially engineered malware attacks against Firefox and Safari users will end up testing the user’s antivirus and/or operating system defenses.
Apparently their idea of "security" is web filtering, built into the browser itself, to make up for deficiencies in an anti-virus product or the OS. I'd rather train the users better and use a separate security product or filtering proxy service. -
reprotected I don't really consider blocking websites and downloads based on a blacklist makes a browser more secure. Less vulnerability against zero-day browser exploits and the such should be the true benchmark.Reply -
jimmysmitty NeverdynePretty impressive, if they only made IE as responsive and fast as Chrome I would consider switching, but as it stands for "experienced" users like I who spend more time than the recommended daily dose on the internet, we probably know how to protect ourselves fairly well already; though I can see how this could add value for the average consumer. The people who don't know when to pull out of a dangerous website should get protection strapped to them I guess.Reply
These days even the best protection is almost useless. The thing is that even safe webites have a chance since all the ads tend to come from the same area.
As for speed, IE and Chrome are within milliseconds of loading pages. Its like saying a GPU that plays a game at 61FPS is fastert than a GPU doing the same at 60FPS, not noticeable enough.
Overall I like how MS is pushing to keep IE safe and integrating ore saftey features by default (such as the do not track) as it helps those who are not as internet savvy. -
livebriand jimmysmittyThese days even the best protection is almost useless. The thing is that even safe webites have a chance since all the ads tend to come from the same area.As for speed, IE and Chrome are within milliseconds of loading pages. Its like saying a GPU that plays a game at 61FPS is fastert than a GPU doing the same at 60FPS, not noticeable enough.Overall I like how MS is pushing to keep IE safe and integrating ore saftey features by default (such as the do not track) as it helps those who are not as internet savvy.Chrome is still a bit more responsive than IE. Firefox, meanwhile, is absolutely terrible in comparison.Reply -
blppt It probably doesnt mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but on the RTM Win8/IE10 system I ran it on, IE10 was the fastest at Sunspider 0.9.1, dipping into double digits for the first time I've ever seen---IIRC, it finished in like 85ms on my i7-3770K. Nothing else came close, not FF16, not Chrome (latest).Reply -
blppt It probably doesnt mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but on the RTM Win8/IE10 system I ran it on, IE10 was the fastest at Sunspider 0.9.1, dipping into double digits for the first time I've ever seen---IIRC, it finished in like 85ms on my i7-3770K. Nothing else came close, not FF16, not Chrome (latest).Reply