Internet Explorer 8: features & benchmarks

Joachim Kaufmann & Kai Schmerer ZDNet Germany

Published: 19 Mar 2009

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Go to section: Introduction User interface Search and Accelerators Under the surface Compatibility Security and privacy Performance Conclusion

Security and privacy
The internet can be viewed as the digital equivalent of the Wild West, so the security of a browser is crucial. Internet Explorer has been under continuous bombardment from malware authors, so Microsoft has expanded the security features in the latest version of its browser.

For example, the Phishing Filter that first appeared in Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) has been beefed up. The filter now actively scans web sites for malware. Also, to help users spot phishing attacks, IE8 shows a web site's domain name in bold black and greys out the remainder of the URL. This 'domain name highlighting' is designed to highlight spoofing and domain-name switches.

Cross-site scripting attacks are prevented by a new filter, according to Microsoft.

Data Execution Prevention is now active by default and is designed to frustrate attacks based on buffer overflows. The effectiveness of this feature will only become apparent over time.

The new InPrivate browsing mode allows users to surf the internet without leaving obvious traces on the client. This mode opens a new window and turns off logs of web sites visited, temporary internet files and cookies. This approach is not completely safe, however, because special tools can undelete this information. Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari all have similar private browsing modes.

Microsoft has also introduced a Suggested Sites feature, which proposes other sites that could be of interest based on the current search. Although this function is not active by default, the potential benefits it holds for Microsoft are open to speculation.

 

Go to section: Introduction User interface Search and Accelerators Under the surface Compatibility Security and privacy Performance Conclusion

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