IE7 Security Vista Security Discuss IE7 Security in the Windows Vista forums; There are many gamers that think that they have to have their system open to get their games to work right. There are even rootkits that affect gamers ( quake 3 ...

[jayaustin]

There are many gamers that think that they have to have their system open to get their games to work right. There are even rootkits that affect gamers (quake 3 buffer overflow advisory) by slowing their aiming. Read Matt Clapham's artical in Feb 07 TechNet magazine (the jan issue is still online or I would have linked to it) for a lot of information about getting some applications to work in a secure environment.

[felix8406]

Ie7 Phishing Filter

Many PC computer users, especially those with lack of information or knowledge, don’t hesitate when a website ask for their personal information. This is a critical security concern, as people that engage in phishing use this lack of knowledge to steal personal information and individual’s identity.

Microsoft has answered this by incorporating a Phishing Filter in IE7. This filter uses an online service, which is updated several times an hour with the latest information about fraudulent websites. This Phishing Filter helps protect users from phishing scams by comparing the website addresses you are attempting to visit with a list of reported legitimate sites that is stored on your PC; it analyzes the website you want to visit for characteristics common to phishing sites; and it sends the website address that you attempt to visit to an online service run by Microsoft to check against a frequently updated list of reported phishing sites.

If the webpage you are attempting to visit has been confirmed as a known phishing site, IE7 identifies the threat level and automatically send you to a neutral page that contains a warning. If the webpage has not been reported as a phishing site, but behaves like one, the Address Bar is flagged as yellow and warns you about the suspicious behavior.

Note: When you first install IE7 or Vista, the Phishing Filter is neither turn on or off. To turn this feature on or off, go to Tools, Phishing Filter, Turn On (or Off if it’s already on) Automatic Website Checking. You can also select to check a website manually by clicking the Check this Website option.

[felix8406]

Since this thread is all about security, I thought it's appropriate to post this here. There's a malicious software sent over the weekend that has affected about 300,000 computers. It's called Storm Worm and it's sent via email advertising news report such as "230 Dead as storm batters Europe," or "U.S. Secretary of Sate Condoleeza Rice has kicked German Chancellor." The attachments have names such as "Full Story.exe" or "Full Video.exe."

You can read more about it at http://www.betanews.com/article/Stor...ead/1169570772 or type Storm Worm to search with Google or other search engine.

This is one more reason to make sure your security level is set to its most secure option.

[jayaustin]

NEVER click on an attachment that has exe extension. Actually NEVER click on any attachment unless you know 100% where it came from and are expecting it.

[felix8406]

Excellent tip Jay. Users must be suspicious of every attachment, even if coming from a friend, bank, etc. If you are not 100% sure, don't open it. Call your friend, your bank institution or whomever sent you the attachment and verify that it's legit and safe to open. Being attack by malware can be a nightmare, especially if you have personal or sensitive information in your PC.

Here's another security feature of IE7:

IE7 prevents hackers from hiding their true website address in two ways:

First, by requiring a website address in every window; this prevents hackers from using pop-up windows with misleading information that may convince you to download or install malware. By forcing address bar requirements in each window, users have better idea about the source of the information presented.

Second, by offering Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) display protection. Browsers must be able to handle non-English characters and domain names, however, hackers have used international characters as a way to hide their true domain name and for phishing attacks. IE7 forces the display of the Punycode* domain name format when many character sets are contained within a domain name label.

If support for English and another language is enable, the browser will display the web address as it exist, as long as it shares common characters. However, if your browser is enable to support just English and/or if common characters are not common to both languages (e.g. Chinese characters), the address is displayed in Punycode*. This will alert you that the website you reached might not be safe.

*Punycode is basically codes use for International Domain Name. It’s necessary because a character in one language may represent a different object in another language. Hackers can easily fool a user to click certain malicious domain, because the domain names might look similar. When an address is display in Punycode it will begin with the characters “xn--“, in front, e.g. www.xn--address-2a.com.

[felix8406]

Another improvement implemented in IE7 is in deleting browsing history. On previous version of IE, users had to delete history information, clear the cache, erase automatically completed form history, and clear the Start/Run history using one control for each set individually.

IE7 provides users with one-click cleanup to erase personal data from the PC. Erasing browsing history is especially important when PCs are used in shared-resource environments, e.g. friend, libraries, schools, at work, etc. Once you have completed with your browsing, IE7 provides you one easy click to deleting your history before login off the PC.

Simply click Tools, Delete Browsing History…, Delete all…(see snip)

[crabby]

Note... this feature is another one that has been 'stolen' from third party and free software I'm not bitter, just glad Microsoft have turned the corner where by they lead the way from now on!

crabby

[felix8406]

Here's a non-edited list of security features built in IE7. You can read more by downloading The Microsoft Vista Product Guide from MS website.

ActiveX Opt-In - Disables nearly all preinstalled ActiveX controls to reduce the attack surface, and requires user consent before a previously unused control can be accessed. Users can easily enable or disable ActiveX controls as needed through the Information Bar and the Add-on Manager.

Add-ons Disabled Mode - To help troubleshoot difficulties with launching Internet Explorer or reaching specific websites, users can start in Add-ons Disabled Mode, where only critical system add-ons are enabled.

Address Bar protection - Every window, regardless of whether it is a pop-up or a standard window, presents a read-only Address Bar to the user, helping to block malicious sites from emulating trusted sites.

Cross-domain barriers - These prevent scripts on webpages from interacting with content from other domains or windows. This enhanced safeguard further protects against malware by limiting the potential for malicious websites to manipulate flaws in other websites or cause the user to download undesired content or software.

Delete Browsing History - Enables users to clean up cached pages, passwords, form data, cookies, and history, all from a single window.

Fix My Settings - Prevents users from browsing with unsafe settings by warning them with an Information Bar when current security settings might put them at risk. When you make changes in the Security Settings window, you also see red highlighting if you try to modify certain critical items. In addition to getting dialog box alerts warning about unsafe settings, you are reminded by the Information Bar as long as the settings remain unsafe. You can instantly reset Internet security settings to the Medium-High default level by clicking the Fix My Settings option in the Information Bar.

High Assurance SSL - Internet Explorer 7 provides support for the new High Assurance certificates, coloring the Address Bar green to indicate that the site has completed the additional validations and independent verification processes of certificate authorities. High Assurance certificates help increase user trust for online transactions and visually alert the user when they are present—all of which helps safeguard personal data.

Internationalized Domain Name Support - In addition to adding support for Internationalized Domain Names in URLs, Internet Explorer also notifies the user when visually similar characters in the URL are not expressed in supported language character sets or combinations, thus protecting the user against sites that could otherwise appear as a known, trustworthy site.
Parental Controls - To help keep kids safe online, parents can control browsing behavior through the parental control settings built into Windows Vista. The child’s safety level can be monitored and safely changed remotely. The safety level carries over to many PC activities other than browsing the Internet, such as playing games or accessing the machine outside of certain approved usage times. Further, a parent can view a child’s browsing session logs, and these logs cannot be removed without the parent’s permission.

Phishing Filter - Proactively warns and helps protect users against potential or known fraudulent sites and blocks the site if appropriate. The opt-in filter is updated several times per hour using the latest security information from Microsoft and several partners to help identify fraudulent websites.

Protected Mode - Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista runs in isolation from other applications that run on the operating system. Exploits and malicious software are restricted from writing to any location beyond Temporary Internet Files without explicit user consent.

Security Status Bar - Enhances user awareness of website security and privacy settings by displaying color-coded notifications next to the Address Bar. Internet Explorer 7 changes the Address Bar to green for websites bearing new High Assurance certificates, indicating that the site owner has passed extensive identity verification checks. Phishing Filter notifications, certificate names, and the gold padlock icon also reside next to the Address Bar for better visibility. Certificate and privacy detail information can easily be displayed with a single mouse-click on the Security Status Bar.

URL Handling Security - Redesigned URL parsing ensures consistent processing and minimizes possible exploits. The new URL handler helps centralize critical data parsing and increases data consistency throughout the application.

[felix8406]

Microsoft to revamp IE7 security to make it harder for hackers trying to steal your identity through phishing. I think this is something that we need to place close attention to because hackers are getting more sophisticated.

Microsoft Targets Phishers: New browser security technology is in the works and due for display at RSA in February.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/12867...l?tk=nl_dnxnws

[felix8406]

There’s no surprise that, according to FBI reports, IE7 heads the list of top Internet security attack targets. The main reason for that is that IE7 is the most widely used browser. Also, it relies on Microsoft’s ActiveX feature, which permits executable applications to run on a PC via your browser. You can minimize the risk by keeping your PC updated, whether you are running Win XP or Vista, but the best way to eliminate this risk is simply to disabled ActiveX.

Here’s how:
Open IE7 > select Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level > scroll to 'Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins' > select Disable > click OK

If you want to enable ActiveX to your favorite/trusted site: Open IE7 > click Tools > Internet Options > Security > select Trusted Sites > click Sites > enter site’s address in the text box > click Add > uncheck ‘Require server verification (https://) for all sites in this zone” > click close and OK.

You can also use another browser, like Firefox or Opera, as your default browser; however, the popularity of Firefox has allured hackers to take advantage of its flaws as well. While no browser can be 100% secure, the majority of security experts believe that Opera is safer than IE or Firefox, but, I’m sure hackers will look for its flaws as well.