Your Browser Matters is a new site by Microsoft and partners that aims to make Internet users aware of security in general, and the web browser they use in particular. Some users may decide to ignore the site completely considering that it is maintained by Microsoft, others might want to check it out to see what it is all about and if the points that it tries to make are valid.
When you open the homepage of the informational site in a supported web browser you get a score for that browser right away. The site unfortunately does not support beta versions of web browsers which means that I was only able to get a score for Internet Explorer 9. Neither Firefox Aurora, Google Chrome Dev nor the latest stable Opera version were compatible with the site.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 scores 4 out of 4 points, which obviously is the highest possible score. Ed Bott ran Chrome Stable and Firefox Stable through the test and noticed that the browsers scored 2.5 (Chrome) and 2 (Firefox) respectively.
It all boils down to the test criteria. When you look at all of them in the screenshot below you will notice that Microsoft analyses how the browser handles the following four attack forms: Dangerous downloads, Phishing websites, Attacks on your browser and Attacks on websites.
You will also notice that no browser scores perfectly in all tests. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 for instance fails in three of the sixteen tests, Chrome in seven and Firefox even in nine tests.
When you look at the core differences you notice that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is the only browser in the test that passes all dangerous download tests which the company attributes to its SmartScreen technology. Both Firefox and Chrome fail in the tests.
All browsers pass the phishing websites tests. The attacks on your browser group of tests is divided into securing extensions and effective sandbox. Internet Explorer is the only browser according to Microsoft with the ability to restrict extensions and plugins on a per-site basis. The browser also passes the “benefits from Windows operating system features that protect against structured exception handling overwrite attacks” test where the two others fail.
Chrome on the other hand is the only browser in the list that passes the sandbox test.
Internet Explorer passes four of five tests of the attacks on websites test. It is the only browser that can automatically block insecure content from https pages and to sanitize HTML to remove potentially problematic code.
The question at this point is obviously if the tests are biased towards Internet Explorer by leaving out tests that might not be as favorable.
I can list a few missing tests without really thinking much about it, for instance:
- Is the browser protecting the user from third party extension or plugin installations?
- Does the browser warn the user of outdated plugins?
- Can users disable security related features, like JavaScript on a per site basis.
- Does the browser support different user profiles?
What I like about the site in general is that it offers information that educate users. The prevention tab for instance lists basic but important security information on one page.
Security is obviously only one feature when users pick a favorite browser that they use most of the time. There are other features like speed, extensions support or general compatibility with web standards that can make a difference.
What’s your take on Your Browser Matters? Is Microsoft making a valid point here or is this just marketing mumbo-jumbo?
Before you answer note that that Internet Explorer 6 scores 0 of 4 points and Internet Explorer 7 1 out of 4.
© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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Post tags: google chrome, internet-explorer, mozilla-firefox, Opera, secure browser, smartscreen filter, web security
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