Tip #4700 - New Browser Security
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New
Browser Security
Over the last
few weeks, Erin has written about both Microsoft and Mozilla releasing
the newest versions of their Web browsers for testing. Internet Explorer
8 Beta and Firefox 3 Beta are now in their testing phases and they
both offer a bundle of new features that will help keep you more secure.
I thought I would run through a few of those features today, just
to let everyone know what's coming. Here we go!
First, you need
to keep in mind that both of these browsers are still in the testing
stage. If you'd like to download either of them, you're welcome to,
but you should use them at your own risk.
Both Internet
Explorer and Firefox will include a new feature to fight against phishing
attacks. Many people fall for phishing scams because the address in
the address bar is usually deceiving enough to make you believe it's
from a legitimate site. Because of that, both IE and Firefox will
have a feature called domain highlighting. It will put the actual
domain of the site you're visiting in bold lettering. By doing that,
you will be able to see what site you're truly visiting.
Here's an example:
As you can see,
if the address was not highlighted, you could easily think the address
was from a Citibank site. Instead, the domain highlighting feature
shows you that's not true. The page is actually from a site called
stealmyinfo.com. By seeing that, it's easy to catch the sites that
shouldn't be trusted.
Other than the
domain highlighting feature, both Firefox and Internet Explorer will
have a malware fighting tool. While both programs have different ways
of identifying bad Web sites, the results are usually very similar.
Both browsers will check the site you're about to visit against a
database of known phishing and malware sites. If you're about to go
to a known dangerous site, you will receive a warning. You will then
have the ability to choose if you still want to go to the site or
not.
Those are just
a couple features that are being built in to the new browsers. Both
Microsoft and Mozilla have said other security features will be included
as well. Microsoft has not yet disclosed all of their plans, but Mozilla
has a full list of future features listed here.
Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!
~ Gary
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