Microsoft Says IE9 Blocks More Malware Than Chrome 226
CSHARP123 writes "In a move that's sure to raise some eyebrows, Microsoft today debuted a new web site designed to raise awareness of security issues in web browsers. When you visit the site, called Your Browser Matters, it allows you to see a score for the browser you're using. Only IE, Chrome, or Firefox are included — other browsers are excluded. Not surprisingly, Microsoft's latest release, Internet Explorer 9, gets a perfect 4 out of 4. Chrome or Firefox do not even come close to the score of 4. Even though the web site makes it easy for users to upgrade to the latest version of their choice of browser, Roger Capriotti hopes people will choose IE9, as it blocks more malware compared to Chrome or Firefox."
Of note in the Windows Team post is that the latest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report discovered that 0-day exploits account for a mere tenth of a percent of all intrusions. Holes in outdated software and social engineering account for the majority of successful attacks.
Re:NoScript (Score:2, Informative)
NoScript can block all those things since it has configurable plugin blocking, configurable with the same site rule system used for js. This is great, not because of malware, but because I personally would rather just click on the few cases where I want to use flash (even on whitelisted sites).
So your snark attempt has pretty much failed.
Site is fake, not tests are run (Score:5, Informative)
Typical Microsoft Site (Score:5, Informative)
All show and no go. It doesn't actually test your browser or system, it just attempts to identify the browser and then matches it up with a "score." My firefox 6 got a score of 2 out of 4 based on a list of features that it allegedly had or did not have and, among other things, gave me a check box under 'yes' for "Does the browser benefit from Windows Operating System features that protect against arbitrary data execution?" even though I was running a non-Windows OS. Then I hit it with Netscape 2, Netscape 4, HotJava 3, and Opera 3 and it was unable to identify any of those and just said it couldn't give a score. The best part, though, was where it said 'The flash plugin was needed to display the page' advising me on security.