Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
2. Which browsers (if any) offer this type of safe browsing?
IE7 on Vista runs in Protected Mode by default if you have UAC enabled (also default). That places it
two levels below the Admin/system privilege level,
one level below your own user session, and at the lowest possible Integrity level on the Windows Integrity Control scale, too (
2-page article on WIC if you've nevar heard of it). It will only be permitted to write to one specific folder, too.
Pretty cool stuff
In pursuit of malware samples, I've sent IE7 (in Protected Mode) to lots of exploit-packed bad sites, and no exploits have succeeded, so it's pretty solid under fire. If you prefer to use something else, that's fine too, take a look at the other tips.
Since you're interested in security, a couple other things you could do:
1) enable IE's own Data Execution Prevention if you have Vista. Instructions on that:
- Right-click on an Internet Explorer icon, and choose Run as Administrator from the right-click menu (you'll only have to do this once).
- In Internet Explorer, click Tools > Internet Options, and then click the Advanced tab.
- Scroll down and put a checkmark in Enable memory protection to help mitigate online attacks (pic :camera:). This checkbox can only be changed if you use Run as Administrator. Don't ask, I don't know why either
- Close Internet Explorer. DEP is now activated for the 32-bit version of IE. If you have 64-bit Vista, you don't need to do this for 64-bit IE7, because DEP is mandatory on all 64-bit processes in Vista x64.
Possible side effects of DEP in IE7? Some browser add-ons might crash. Older versions of Sun Java Runtime did, for example. This is undoubtedly why DEP's not enabled by default.
2) run the free Secunia
checkup utility and fix everything it says needs fixing. This helps eliminate
known attackable stuff on your system.
3) on WinXP or Vista, fully enable your hardware-enforced Data Execution Prevention system-wide, as shown in
this pic. That setting is somewhat buried... holler if you need help locating it.
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