Is Internet Explorer Safe?

There are 3 main browsers used in the world today Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Google Chrome. Now out of these three Microsoft's internet explorer is hailed to be far more vulnerable than the other browsers. However times have changed I have run some tests and the results might be a little shocking. I will be testing the newest versions of all these browsers for the current date today March 1st 2013.

How Will You Best Testing?

I will be using a popular testing site called browser scope.org. I will only be testing the security of these browsers or else this post will be pages upon pages in length. To sum the test up so it is easy to understand the test scans for 17 different browser vulnerabilities. I will not bother breaking them down, but these are common vulnerabilities. When you see the results one of them is obvious while the others might leave you questioning the test's validity. This is just one test I can do many more, but that will have skewed results based on how I do it.

Google Chrome 16/17

1. PASS postMessage API
2. PASS JSON.parse API
3. FAIL toStaticHTML API
4. PASS httpOnly cookie API
5. PASS X-Frame-Options
6. PASS X-Content-Type-Options
7. PASS Block reflected XSS
8. PASS Block location spoofing
9. PASS Block JSON hijacking
10. PASS Block XSS in CSS
11. PASS Sandbox attribute
12. PASS Origin header
13. PASS Strict Transport Security
14. PASS Block cross-origin CSS attacks
15. PASS Content Security Policy
16. PASS Cross Origin Resource Sharing
17. PASS Block visited link sniffing

Very impressive results by Google Chrome as expected. It seemed to fail only on static html which is something on the page that does not change. For instance text  that does not change color or an image that does not change. While dynamic html can be anything such as a media advertisement or a video or you click a link and it changes purple. To sum it up: If the page never changes once it loads it is static. If there is anything changing on the website then it is dynamic.

Mozzila Firefox 13/17

1. PASS postMessage API
2. PASS JSON.parse API
3. FAIL toStaticHTML API
4. PASS httpOnly cookie API
5. PASS X-Frame-Options
6. FAIL X-Content-Type-Options
7. FAIL Block reflected XSS
8. PASS Block location spoofing
9. PASS Block JSON hijacking
10. PASS Block XSS in CSS
11. PASS Sandbox attributes
12. FAIL Origin header
13. PASS Strict Transport Security
14. PASS Block cross-origin CSS attacks
15. PASS Content Security Policy
16. PASS Cross Origin Resource Sharing
17. PASS Block visited link sniffing

That was a very sad result for a browser that claims to be so secure however lets see what it failed in. It failed with static html just like google chrome. 

This is to prevent from sniffing attacks. Which means that this is meant to protect you from getting spyware or maybe Adware. It means that it tries to prevent forms of cookies from taking important information. 

Block reflected XSS this is meant to prevent websites from injecting malicious code into your browser. This prevents it from staling important information.

Origin header: This protection is meant to protect you from getting important information from your web browser.

Internet Explorer 14/17????

1. PASS postMessage API
2. PASS JSON.parse API
3. PASS toStaticHTML API
4. PASS httpOnly cookie API
5. PASS X-Frame-Options
6. PASS X-Content-Type-Options
7. PASS Block reflected XSS
8. PASS Block location spoofing
9. PASS Block JSON hijacking
10. PASS Block XSS in CSS
11. PASS Sandbox attribute
12. FAIL Origin header
13. FAIL Strict Transport Security
14. PASS Block cross-origin CSS attacks
15. FAIL Content Security Policy
16. PASS Cross Origin Resource Sharing
17. PASS Block visited link sniffing

What is this possible Internet Explorer beat Mozzila Firefox at a security test. 

Strict Transport Security: This is  basically when you connect to the web server you connect to it briefly in a secure manner so that your information is safe. This is strange that it is not included in internet explorer I figured it would have been.

Content Security policy: This does not directly protect your computer but to put it in simple terms when you connect to a website and you are being set data your browser should check the site to see if it has this security "label". But basically this won't save your computer from infection, but it is something that a browser should have considering how much people do on the internet. 

Conclusion:

All of these browsers are safe to use but if you are looking for the most secure "average user" browser then go with Google Chrome or Internet Explorer. Also with independent test Google Chrome scores okay with blocking websites. When it comes to downloading Internet Explorer takes that prize with its built in Smart Screen Filter. I am not trying to insult any of the browsers but people need to realize that Internet Explorer is not as bad as people make it out to be.