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NSS Labs Completes International Tests of Web Browsers Against Socially Engineered MalwareAug 18, 2011 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- NSS Labs, Inc., an independent security testing organization, announced the release of its latest Web Browser Security Comparative Test Reports against Socially-Engineered Malware for the third quarter of 2011. According to a release, two tests were carried out; one global test and one Asia-Pacific specific test. These reports examine the ability of five different web browsers to protect users from socially-engineered malware. Socially engineered malware (SEM) remains the most common security threat facing Internet users today, claiming one third of internet users as victims. These attacks pose a significant risk to individuals and organizations by threatening to compromise, damage, or acquire sensitive personal and corporate information. European and American users have found themselves particular targets of malware authors over the last 12 months. North America has consistently been the primary host of malicious URLs, while users in Asia have been victims of the greatest number of malicious URLs. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the implied trust relationships inherent in social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Badoo, StudiVZ, Skyrock, LinkedIn, renren, Kaixin001 (a.k.a. Happy Net), 51, Multiply, Cyworld, Orkut, Mixi, etc.) and user-contributed content (blogs, Twitter, etc.) which allow for rapid publishing and anonymity. Furthermore, the speed at which these threats are "rotated" to new locations poses a significant challenge to security vendors. The company noted that key findings from the reports show: -Browsers can offer an additional layer of protection beyond antivirus. -Results varied from Q3 2010 test, with IE9, Chrome, and Opera showing improvement, while Firefox and Safari decreased in protection. -Microsoft's IE9 achieved over 99 percent in protection results with the new Application Reputation feature. The use of free browser-based reputation systems to assist in the fight against socially-engineered malware is a use of cloud technologies. However, in these tests of socially-engineered malware, we found that not all vendor implementations and daily operations yield the same results. It became obvious from these recent tests, in comparison to NSS Labs' earlier global tests, that Microsoft continues to improve their IE malware protection in IE9 through its SmartScreen Filter technology and with the addition of SmartScreen Application Reputation technology. With a URL blocking score of 99.9 percent and over-time protection rating of 99.2 percent, Internet Explorer 9 was by far the best at protecting against socially-engineered malware. Copies of the Web Browser Security Comparative Test Report against Socially-Engineered Malware (including Global, Asia-Pacific, and European reports) are available for no charge at nsslabs.com/browser-security. More Information: nsslabs.com ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) |