Topic: Internet Explorer is more secure than Chrome, Safari & Firefox

[Samker]

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for a long time has been looked at as being very unsecure. Many tech savvy people moved to alternative web browsers for better security and overall, better features.

For many years, there were three alternatives to IE; Firefox, Safari and Opera. In 2008 Google announced a new web browser, Google Chrome which today is growing a user base at an astonishing speed. They quickly went to battle with Opera for the title of speed king but at what cost?

A list, named the “Dirty Dozen” has been put together the security company Bit9, based on information from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's public National Vulnerability Database: http://www.todayisp.com/news/MessView.net?IDMessage=8968

The list, places Google Chrome at No.1 for the most vulnerabilities with 76 being discovered. Apple’s Safari comes in second with 60 vulnerabilities followed by Microsoft Office in third with 57.

Harry Sverdlove, CTO of Bit9 said “A variety of vulnerability types - including buffer-overflow and cross-site scripting vulnerabilities - impacted these applications” He later says “some exploits of vulnerabilities could allow attacks to compromise the user's desktop entirely and perhaps pose a risk for the entire organization. A list like the annual "Dirty Dozen" highlights trends and the need to make sure software is kept updated”

This year the company found 3,268 vulnerabilities which built the list. The most secure appears to be the Opera web browser which had 6 vulnerabilities.

Many may claim Google Chrome, being only two years old has a reason for the new “vulnerability title” whereas others may disagree.

Last year’s list was built on slightly different criteria, as it excluded the Apple Mac platform with Mozilla Firefox taking last year’s title.

The full results can be seen below:

   1. Google Chrome – 76
   2. Apple Safari – 60
   3. Microsoft Office – 57
   4. Adobe Acrobat – 54
   5. Mozilla Firefox – 51
   6. Sun JDK – 36
   7. Adobe Shockwave Player – 35
   8. Microsoft Internet Explorer – 32
   9. RealNetworks RealPlayer – 14
  10. Apple Webkit – 9
  11. Adobe Flash Player – 8
  12. Apple Quicktime and Opera Web browser (tied) – 6

(NW)

[grr]

whatever I don't agree IE is secure..

[xtremeboyz]

whatever I don't agree IE is secure..

IE 9 is...

[Cassandra_IE_Team]

whatever I don't agree IE is secure..

Hello grr,

Internet Explorer is a secure browser. If you happen to be using IE7, I recommend upgrading to IE8 as it is faster and safer than IE7. IE8 and IE9 beta both use what is called the SmartScreen Filter. It is a dynamic security intelligence and safety service designed that helps protect you from phishing attacks and malicious software. You can read more about IE security features here - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Security-and-privacy-features-in-Internet-Explorer

Cheers,
Cassandra
IE Outreach Team

[haz]

Im not a fan of IE either ( no matter where I use it its always sluggish and slow ! im talking about IE7 & 8 ) I think IE has a lot to do to get a reputation as a secure browser after all what happened with IE6.
Nice job done by Opera Developers though ! Congrats
Thanks for the news.

[AllSecurityUp]

IE has added some great features in recent years, mainly to keep up with new security threats.  So it is much safer.

The bad site list is only part of the extra security it has now, but is a very important part.

Still can't understand why user persist with IE6.

[Samker]

...

E8 and IE9 beta both use what is called the SmartScreen Filter. It is a dynamic security intelligence and safety service designed that helps protect you from phishing attacks and malicious software. You can read more about IE security features here - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Security-and-privacy-features-in-Internet-Explorer

Cheers,
Cassandra
IE Outreach Team

Thanks for info's Cassandra and Welcome to SCF Community.  

...

Still can't understand why user persist with IE6.

Me to...  

[Cassandra_IE_Team]

You're welcome and thanks for the warm welcome

Cassandra
IE Outreach Team

[testuser]

Hard to compare apples with apples. When the testing was done was it based on known patched vulnerabilities, known unpatched vulnerabilities and which version of Firefox (as there seem to be so many updates over the last few months)?

From a personal perspective I prefer to use a browser which is not linked to OS calls (eg - the older IE browsers). New versions of IE are definitely better than IE7.

[krrjhn]

Very interesting discussion !!