Currently, Ie (=Internet Explorer) is the most popular Internet browser. As such, malicious hackers made it their whole one target and set out to exploit its flaws. It also has the disadvantage of relying on ActiveX technology, which allows web sites to run executable programs on your Pc via your browser. Although there is an revising in protection in Ie7 and Ie8 compared to older versions, this technology is still vulnerable.
In order to improve protection you may select to use a less popular browser such as, Mozilla's Firefox or Google Chrome.
Download Google Chrome
Both Firefox and Chrome use a distinct technology from Internet explorer. They both built on open source code from other platforms. Chrome browser is based on the open-source Webkit engine, which is an open-source web browser layout engine industrialized by the WebKit Foundation. Firefox is based on the open source Gecko engine, which is a layout engine currently industrialized by Mozilla Corporation.
For now the most popular alternative to Internet explorer is Firefox. I have a lot of respect to Mozilla and the open source community, but when I have tried to use Firefox 3.5 I had a frustrating experience. It has kept crashing down on me, crashing my Pc along with it.
As consequent of this experience I have decided to give Google Chrome a chance. Google company has stated in many occasions that Chrome browser has innovative protection features.
When investigating these announcements I have noticed four major protection features in Google chrome.
Safe browsing software (it is also being used by Firefox browser) - Safe browsing features protect users against phishing and malware attacks. It uses a blacklist advent that gets downloaded to the user's Pc on a quarterly basis. How does it work? Well Google is constantly crawling the web, finding new and changed websites. During this crawling if they encounter a suspicious site that seems to be a phishing site (designed to steal personal facts of unsuspecting users), it is being added to a list of suspected phishing websites. If a site contains hints to potentially malicious activity, Google tracks this site for a while and if a clear evidence of malicious action is discovered, such as, computer viruses being downloaded and installed, it is being added to a list of suspected malware-infected websites. If you use Chrome browser and you have safe browsing mode enable, then Google Chrome will experience servers at Google, practically every half hour, to download updated lists of suspected phishing and malware websites. These lists are being stored on your Pc so when you surf the Web each site you browse to is being checked against these black lists locally (This is designed to offer performance). If the requested site is in the black list a warning message will appear stating that the requested site is suspected to be a phishing site or a malicious site and the user can select to go back to safety. This highlight seems to help the fight against malware and phishing, but there is a disadvantage. A few bloggers have raise questions about privacy implications. Bloggers have notice that every few hours when an modernize of the black lists is being done, two parameters are being sent to Google servers - "machineid" and "userid" - both computed facts based on machine/user information. This facts is sent along with a bunch of other browser facts to ask Google if they should download an update. This facts can be used for tracking. Google is of procedure obligated to privacy agreement with Internet users stating it will not use any of the personal facts being collected, but would this enforcement stand against a court order? I verily don't know. In short, safe browsing seems like a great protection highlight fighting phishing and malware attacks, but users who are passionate with regard to their privacy should think twice before using it. A privacy mode (Incognito) - this highlight manages privacy settings and designed to suit users who use communal computers, or otherwise wish to keep their browsing habits confidential. When enabled (Click the wrench menu -> go for New incognito window menu item) Chrome browser will not remember visited pages, form and hunt bar entries, passwords, download List entries, cookies and cached files. You can still originate bookmarks, and these will be retained when exiting incognito window. A similar highlight exists also in Internet Explorer 8 browser and Firefox 3.5 browser. These features probably make live easier for Internet users who want to keep their surfing habits to themselves, but in the same way it helps the adults in the group it also may allow children to surf unsupervised. Internet savvy kids can verily hide their Internet activities from their parents. So it is very leading for parents to understand that monitoring of their children Internet activities by viewing the browser history on the child's Pc might not work. Clear Browsing Data - There is a highlight in Google chrome which allow the user to clear browsing data, such as, browsing history, downloads history, cache, cookies, saved passwords and saved form data (Click the Wrench menu -> go for Clear browsing data -> go for the checkboxes for the types of facts you wish to remove). This highlight allows you to keep your browsing habits to yourself even if you are not using the Incognito window. Parents should be aware that similar to the Incognito mode their kids can use this highlight to delete their browsing history so parents should not rely on browsing history as something that can help them get involved in their children Internet activities. Sandbox protection mechanism - This feature, as I see it, is the most significant one. A sandbox is a protection mechanism used to run an application in a restricted environment. Browsers are dealing with malicious attacks on a quarterly basis. The most popular vectors for browser attacks are Html Rendering and JavaScript execution. The sandbox protection mechanism is designed to protect the user's Pc and files against these kinds of malicious attacks. If there is an charge that exploits the browser vulnerabilities and an arbitrary code is being executed on the machine, it will be executed in an isolated environment and the user's Pc will not be harmed. This protection mechanism will also prevent way to the user's files. The sandbox mechanism itself is not a new protection model; It uses the protection features of Windows extensively. You should be aware that since the sandbox mechanism relies on Windows to accomplish its security, it is impossible for it to protect against a flaw in the Os protection model itself.
In a nutshell, these four protection features seem to be helpful and contributing to a safe Internet experience, but I am not finding any innovative new protection models here. Three of these features - Safe browsing software, privacy mode and Clear Browsing Data, already exist in Ie8 and Firefox 3.5, and the sandbox protection mechanism can be added to Ie8 and Firefox by a plugin/addon.
I think the most benefit of Google Chrome is that currently it is not targeted as much by malicious individuals, as Ie and Firefox are. Additional benefit is in the usability factor which seems to be in my opinion best than Ie or Firefox, but I think this issue is a matter of taste...
For now, if you are finding for a less targeted browser, Google Chrome seems to be a good alternative.
Google Chrome Browser protection Features
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