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Microsoft Says IE9 Blocks More Malware Than Chrome
CSHARP123 writes "In a move that's sure to raise some eyebrows, Microsoft today debuted a new web site designed to raise awareness of security issues in web browsers. When you visit the site, called Your Browser Matters, it allows you to see a score for the browser you're using. Only IE, Chrome, or Firefox are included — other browsers are excluded. Not surprisingly, Microsoft's latest release, Internet Explorer 9, gets a perfect 4 out of 4. Chrome or Firefox do not even come close to the score of 4. Even though the web site makes it easy for users to upgrade to the latest version of their choice of browser, Roger Capriotti hopes people will choose IE9, as it blocks more malware compared to Chrome or Firefox."
Of note in the Windows Team post is that the latest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report discovered that 0-day exploits account for a mere tenth of a percent of all intrusions. Holes in outdated software and social engineering account for the majority of successful attacks.
NoScript blocks more malware than either.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
I've seen the same data from Mcafee, and it was really something. For every computer exploited using a Windows flaw, 100 are exploited using Flash. Acrobat Reader and Java are the other major culprits.
In a lot of ways, browser security itself has never been better. There's several highly capable ones out there in this area. The weak link is some truly terrible plugins.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
The site is fake and does nothing other than tell you to use IE9. It determines your user agent and responds based on the result. It does not run any security tests against your browser. When I go the the site with IE9 I get a score of 4 of 4. When I go to it with Firefox 8 I get a 2 of 4 score. When I switch my user agent in Firefox 8 with the user agent switcher add-on to report I am using IE9 and go to the site using Firefox 8, I get a score of 4 of 4.