Microsoft Says IE9 Blocks More Malware Than Chrome

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 Holes in outdated software and social engineering account for the majority of successful attacks.

Seen the same data elsewhere, re: Exploits

[Tridus]

I've seen the same data from Mcafee, and it was really something. For every computer exploited using a Windows flaw, 100 are exploited using Flash. Acrobat Reader and Java are the other major culprits.

In a lot of ways, browser security itself has never been better. There's several highly capable ones out there in this area. The weak link is some truly terrible plugins.

It doesn't rate Opera either, but

[Eadwacer]

When I went there with my Opera browser, it said it couldn't rate it. So I used Opera's site preferences to lie to the site and tell it I was using IE (version unspecified). I then got a rating of 4/4. So even a fake IE is better than none.