IE9 named best browser for protecting against social engineering-based malware attacks

SOFTWARE FLOGGER Microsoft has been blessed with some unusual good news, after tests showed that its Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) web browser is the best for protecting against social engineering-based malware attacks.

The report by independent security research and testing organisation NSS Labs found that IE9 was top for protecting users from socially engineered malware, blocking up to seven times more malware threats than Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.

According to the global test, IE9 caught 96 per cent of the live threats with Smartscreen URL reputation filtering and an additional 3.2 per cent with Application Reputation filtering.

Google's Chrome 12 came in second in the tests, although it was far behind Microsoft, detecting just 13.2 per cent of malware attacks. Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox tied for the third spot with 7.6 per cent, followed by Opera with 6.2 per cent.

The NSS Labs Web Browser Security Report said, "From a cyber criminal's perspective, tricking users into downloading and installing malware is a preferred means of attack since the weakness they are exploiting is the naiveté of their victim. This enables criminals to cast a wide net since there are no technology dependencies. In contrast, drive-by attacks require the user's computer to be vulnerable to the exploit being attempted."

Although The INQUIRER finds this hard to believe, we can find no evidence of Microsoft sponsorship in the report. According to researchers, Microsoft's reputation checking tools give its web browser a major advantage in online tests.

Social engineering attacks, which often operate as fake video sites or security tools, trick users into manually downloading and installing malware payloads. 'Drive by' attacks, meanwhile, exploit software vulnerabilities. µ