According to a newly released report from NSS Labs, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 outperforms competing browsers in protecting against socially engineered malware.
More details:
NSS Labs has conducted significant research over time into the protection capabilities of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. Throughout 2009 and 2010, protection provided by both Firefox and Safari exceeded that of Chrome1. Since the adoption of Safe Browsing API v2 and the elimination of proprietary solutions, both haved emonstrated a reduction in effectiveness at blocking traditional malware downloads.The latest round of testing occurred from November 21, 2011 to January 5, 2012, during which NSS researchers observed what appears to be a significant change when compared with historical results. Chrome’s protection rate steadily climbed to just over 50% before suddenly falling back to 20%. Over the same time period (Nov 21, 2011 –December 21, 2011), Firefox and Safari’s block rate remained at 2%, and then inexplicably jumped to 7% on the same day Chrome’s protection fell precipitously (December 22nd)
According to NSS Labs, the mean rate for socially engineered malware for Internet Explorer 9 is 96.5%, followed by Google’s Chrome with 34.1%, and Firefox 7 with 3.6%, next to Safari 5 with 3.5%.
Does this mean that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 is indeed the most secure browser around? Not so fast. NSS Labs has positioned Internet Explorer as the leader in protecting against socially engineered malware several times before. See also:
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I use both Chrome and IE 9 but use IE 9 as default, however a lot of Gov. sites do not work will with IE9 or Crome . Any one have any info on why that is (especially FASFA)
Wow. Now that was unexpected information. Thanks for sharing it!
oh really? i never thought about it. im actually a big fan of firefox. maybe i should change my mind about it.
thanks for sharing!
Interesting article. I don’t know enough about NSS Labs and where they obtain their funding. I tend to trust clearly independent studies and audits, such as those from Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security, who recommend Chrome. – http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9223957/German_gov_t_endorses_Chrome_as_most_secure_browser
Defense against social engineering is more critical for “sheeple” and less significant for “paranoids”.