Aside from switching to FireFox, what do i do to Internet Explorer so that its less prone to security holes and such?

[AkumaX]

I think you turn off ActiveX... right? what else do i do? would this stuff hinder day-to-day activities?

 

[talyn00]

Run it in a limited access account, keep up-to-date with patches, disable javascript and ActiveX. And don't go to any questionable websites.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: talyn00
Run it in a limited access account, keep up-to-date with patches, disable javascript and ActiveX. And don't go to any questionable websites.

^ what he said, although if you're on a Limited account you can pretty much laugh in the face of danger even with IE6 at stock WinXP SP2 settings. For fact-finding purposes, I was going around TRYING to get infected at known WMF Exploit sites with a Limited account, IE6 at stock settings, and no antivirus or antispyware software, on WinXP SP2. No dice. That's echoed by the results reported at SpywareInfo when they finally got around to

 :light:
:Q ~ hey, let's test at nasty spyware-infested websites using IE under a Limited account for a change!! OMG WE ARE TEH INVINCABLE!!!

I'm the only user of my WinXP systems at home and at work, and use a Limited account for most everything, so I do know that there are gotchas. You might want to check out MakeMeAdmin (google for it) if you really want to give this a try.

 

[Velk]

On the basis that common sense isn't all that common, the biggest thing you can do to improve IE security is not click yes on the 'Do you want to install 'Slap the Monkey' the fun game from fun happy fun company ?' prompts. The more interesting it looks, the less likely you are to actually want to install it 8)

Sounds stupid, but people running stupid things accounts for more spyware infections than anything else these days.

 

[xgsound]

mechBgons' plan is a great "no overhead" way to go. If you don't use a limited account at least get a firewall (kerio 2.1.5 is free) and run Spywareblaster (prevents access to the worst known sites) as a start.

The security sticky at the top of this forum and this http://www.theflyingpenguin.com/penguin_blog.shtml#spyware-removal page give very detailed info.


Jim