Microsoft - IE8 Most Secure Browser Evah!!! (Arstechnica)

**Drew Wilson** · August 14th, 2009, 02:42 PM

Microsoft has sponsored two reports by NSS Labs that test web browser security. Unsurprisingly, Internet Explorer 8 comes out on top in both sets of tests.

During July 2009, a company called NSS Labs performed two separate browser security tests, which Amy Barzdukas, General Manager of Internet Explorer, told Ars that Microsoft had sponsored. Right off the bat, your suspicions have probably been raised, and rightly so. Internet Explorer 8 performed very well in all the tests and, while Microsoft insists that it had no impact on the results, we must still be cautious when examining the reports.

[...]

Rick Moy, president of NSS Labs, sent us a follow-up e-mail to tell us that it was Microsoft's online security engineering team (not marketing) that hired NSS Labs to do recurring benchmark testing so they could improve their services. Only once Microsoft's security engineering team saw the results did it send the details over to the marketing department.

In terms of sponsorship of the reports, "this stuff is expensive to do right, and we need to monetize it somehow," Moy told Ars. "We invited Google, Mozilla, Apple, Opera to participate, but they didn’t even bother to respond, except for Opera, which stated they “don’t really focus on malware."

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:kabong:

Yeah, I'm sure everyone here would agree that IE is the most secure browser in existance today.

**mfgbypooter** · August 14th, 2009, 04:36 PM

Just ask grab, I'm sure he'll tell you whats the best browser out there.

*

**norm1515** · August 14th, 2009, 09:33 PM

When IE becomes the most secure browser, pigs will fly, children everywhere will enjoy their pre-orders of Duke Nukem Forever, and Linux will be popular on the desktop.

**thelastfreeman** · August 14th, 2009, 09:54 PM

Let's spread this around so I can keep enjoying my Firefox adblocked browsing unhindered.

**RACKnRAIL** · August 14th, 2009, 10:03 PM

I'll keep using my unsecure Opera.

**w31n3r** · August 19th, 2009, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by norm1515

...children everywhere will enjoy their pre-orders of Duke Nukem Forever...

there really is no hope for IE 8 then.

truth be told, IE 8 isn't half bad if you can get past prejudices. i never thought i'd say this about internet explorer without biting my tongue, but it's a pretty damn good browser.

**Signa** · August 19th, 2009, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by w31n3r

there really is no hope for IE 8 then.

truth be told, IE 8 isn't half bad if you can get past prejudices. i never thought i'd say this about internet explorer without biting my tongue, but it's a pretty damn good browser.

Agreed. I'm semi-forced to use it at work and it could be a lot worse. It could be IE6.

**Drew Wilson** · August 19th, 2009, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by w31n3r

there really is no hope for IE 8 then.

truth be told, IE 8 isn't half bad if you can get past prejudices. i never thought i'd say this about internet explorer without biting my tongue, but it's a pretty damn good browser.

I hope you say that without knowing what a nightmare it is to code for it. Either that, or I hope they made it easier to code with. Every time I code for IE when my site includes CSS, I eventuall have this strong urge to crack the monitor in two.

**grab_grab_the_haddock** · August 20th, 2009, 05:16 PM

Looks like the firefox fanboys just can't take it when someone points out what is obvious to anyone with a brain, namely that IE8 is a way better browser that firefox.

Of course they don't bother to attack the results or methods of the test; because the methodology is unimpeachable and the results are inarguable. Instead they attack the body conducting the test. This is just the type of childish muck slinging you can expect from the so called firefox "community".

**norm1515** · August 20th, 2009, 11:50 PM

Originally Posted by grab_grab_the_haddock

Looks like the firefox fanboys just can't take it when someone points out what is obvious to anyone with a brain, namely that IE8 is a way better browser that firefox.

There is nothing fanboyish about it. The superiority of firefox can be demonstrated in one word: adblock.

Of course, were talking security, and not features. And as far as security goes, almost nobody here (including IE users), can accept that the new IE is secure, because we've all used older versions of IE, and each one was notorious for vulnerabilities. It may only be inductive reasoning, sure, but a report by Microsoft about it's own product does not calm our fears like an objective independent source would.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

**WhewIntet** · August 26th, 2009, 03:06 PM

its a browser, I am not sure I understand this. Are they saying if you browse your own site, you give ownership to google?

I doubt they could make that stick, EULA or not.

Its not on MAC yet, so I am uninterested....

Rob

**Jackson_fan** · September 4th, 2009, 07:05 AM

yes i m agree with u ... most secure Browser if u have any Good Antivirus with Latest Update .. it stop mostly spyware with popup blocker but some kind of virus in spyware are break the pop up block security . that's why an Good Antivirus must have installed in system