Microsoft introduces 'security focused' Internet Explorer 8

Microsoft has launched the latest version of Internet Explorer, which it claims has ‘leading-edge security features in direct response to people's increasing concerns about online safety'.

The company commissioned a study with the Cyber Security Alliance and found that 78 per cent of adults in the US were more likely to choose a web browser with built-in security than they were two years ago.

So in response, Microsoft has developed Internet Explorer 8 to focus on security enhancements that offers protection against existing and emerging security threats online.

It claimed that it blocks two to four times more malware attacks than other browsers; cuts down on the time it takes to complete common tasks on the web such as searching, mapping and sharing, including navigating 15 of the 20 top worldwide sites; and blurs the lines between the services they use daily and the browser used to access the internet.

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, said: “Customers have made clear what they want in a web browser — safety, speed and greater ease of use. With Internet Explorer 8, we are delivering a browser that gets people to the information they need, fast, and provides protection that no other browser can match.”

Elsewhere, when a user attempts to enter a suspicious site, the previous warning page has been revamped with an option added to visit the site despite the warning now buried in a list of options in its ‘SmartScreen filter'.

The URL that is displayed in the address bar is the name of the site to help prevent phishing sites from being accessed, while a cross-site scripting filter runs in the background.

Mirroring what Chrome and Safari have introduced, IE8 also features an InPrivate browsing mode, which opens up a fresh window that does not store the user's browsing history and a sandboxing feature if one tab in the browser crashes.

Microsoft also claims that this is ‘one of the fastest browsers on the market today, beating other top browsers in page load time on almost 50 per cent of the 25 top comScore websites'.

See original article on scmagazineuk.com