internet explorer 8

Report: In IE8, Web ads won out over privacy

Efforts to build Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 with more robust privacy settings were reportedly stifled by the needs of online advertisers to track user activity, according to a story in Monday's Wall Street Journal.

In designing the browser in early 2008, IE8's development team, led by manager Dean Hachamovitch, wanted to implement new privacy features that would limit third parties from easily tracking mouse clicks and other user activity, according to the Journal. The effort was seen as an attempt to distinguish Internet Explorer from up-and-coming rivals like Firefox, which had gradually been grabbing more of IE'… Read more

Microsoft defends IE8 following hacking contest

Though Internet Explorer 8 was only one of several products hacked in a recent contest, Microsoft is standing up for its browser.

Microsoft's official Windows Security blog on Friday discussed the specific features that were hacked to win the contest, explaining that IE's security techniques aren't designed to thwart every attack forever, but more to slow down the bad buys and make it harder for them to exploit vulnerabilities.

Last Wednesday's annual Pwn2Own hacking contest at the CanSecWest security show in Vancouver, B.C., pitted security experts and researchers against each other to see who was … Read more

Microsoft investigates new Internet Explorer flaw

Microsoft said on Wednesday that it is investigating another flaw in Internet Explorer, this time a vulnerability that could result in an unauthorized disclosure of information for users running its browser on older operating systems.

The software maker said in a security advisory that, although it knows of no attacks based on the flaw, the vulnerability could lead to a Web-based attack from either a Web site designed to take advantage of the flaw or from a site that becomes compromised via user-generated text or a malicious ad. Either way, a user would have to actively go to the compromised … Read more

Customize your browser's zoom options

Open any six Web pages at random and you'll get six different layouts and twice as many font styles and sizes.

The simplest way to make a page easier to read via the keyboard is to press Ctrl and the + (plus) and - (minus) keys to increase and decrease the size of text and usually images on the page. If you're browsing by mouse, press Ctrl and spin the scroll wheel up or down to change the size of a Web page's elements. You'll also find zoom-in and zoom-out options on the View menu in Firefox, … Read more

Browser security features compared

Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3, Google Chrome 4, Apple's Safari 4, and Opera 10 include features that block sites known to host malware and malicious downloads. All but Opera also let you browse without leaving any tracks. But just as important as these protections is ensuring that whichever browser you use is thoroughly patched.

Filtering out bad sites Firefox's built-in antiphishing tool claims to update its bad-site database 48 times a day, according to Mozilla's Firefox security page. Firefox 3 uses Google's Safe Browsing service to automatically block sites that are known to host malware. The … Read more

Microsoft extends IE 8 charity offer

Microsoft is extending a promotion that is designed to spur downloads of Internet Explorer 8 with the promise of donating food to the hungry.

The "Browser for the Better" effort kicked off in June. Under the plan, Microsoft was donating $1.15 in food for each download completed through the program's Web site, up to a maximum of $1 million.

The program was slated to end early this month. However, Microsoft never took the site down and announced formally last week that it is extending the promotion through the end of September.

Microsoft declined to say how … Read more

BOL 1045: IE8: World's most secure browser

A new study shows that Internet Explorer 8 is the most secure browser in the world. Who paid for the study? Guess. We also uncover the Twitter mafia and a new alliance to fight malware. And Molly's dream of running her car on chickens comes closer to reality.

NOTE: There is no video for today's episode due to a technical error. That's right, you can go ahead and blame Jason for this one. Sorry. --Jason

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1045

Apple lead barely shrinks … Read more

Microsoft vomit ad more than half of campaign's views

Vomit throws up viral views.

At least that is the conclusion of the strangely anal examiners of viral video at Visible Measures.

Perhaps some of you may have avoided the splashback from the Internet Explorer 8 vomit ad, featuring a husband, a wife, and former Superman Dean Cain.

The ad was slipped online and was pulled shortly afterward, as some people thought watching a housewife throwing up in the kitchen after seeing something untoward on her husband's laptop was not entirely edifying.

However, the Visible Measurers have offered some pleasantly risible measurements.

Apparently, 57 percent of all the views … Read more

Microsoft's Gazelle browser takes a radical path

Many people think that the browser is starting to replace the operating system as the center of the personal computer.

Naturally, the view that Windows is on a path to irrelevance is not one generally espoused by Microsoft. That said, at least some inside Redmond's walls argue that the Web browser needs to start acting more like an operating system.

"Some of today's browser policies are not very safe," says Microsoft researcher Helen Wang.

Wang, who has been at Microsoft since getting her doctorate from University of California at Berkeley in 2001, argues that the Web … Read more