The most malware resistant browser………IE9

According to the independent testing company NSS labs who are based in the UK and France, Internet Explorer 9 or IE9 was the safest Internet browsing application to defend against malware attacks. In tests conducted by NSS labs which involved testing several browsers against planned malware attacks IE9 defended successfully against 100% of them, followed by IE8 with 90%, Safari 5 13%, Firefox 4 13%, Chrome 10 13% and Opera 5%.

NSS said it utilised 650 websites as malware tests which it collected via spam emails, instant messages and social networks. Excluded from the tests were:

• typical browser vulnerabilities
• clickjacking malware
• drive-by downloads

All tested malware websites required user action and the malware didn’t load within the browser window, in essence a good internet browser should warn of the oncoming malicious code before allowing the user to continue. Therefore this test does not prove that IE9 is the safest browser, it proves that is the most adapted for defending against “socially-engineered” Malware threats. The success of IE9 in this test is put down to its Application Reputation system which warns users of the legitimacy of the malware before it is able to run.

Chrome and Opera have both stated their doubts over the reliability of this test particularly after similar results were released the previous year in favour of IE8, NSS did state this time that all major browsers were invited to the test at no cost to themselves.