20 replies to this topic

[friendforever]

Which is the safest internet browser that which protects PC from viruses, hacks, malwares and any kind of threats which we face everyday from internet while browsing?

[Saint_Michael]

In short none, because all browsers are not hack proof and that was proved a few months ago at a hackers convetion were all the browsers were hacked in matter of seconds and minutes of each other. It is all matter of opinion on what the safest browser is but the track record has Firefox way in the lead followed by Opera and then Internet Explorer, hard to say where Safari could be placed though,

[Tramposch]

Supposedly the newest browser is the safest. Like at the hacking convention thing I believe Chrome was the safest because it was brand new and had not been exploited yet.

Yay chrome! hah

Edited by Tramposch, 27 August 2009 - 03:49 PM.

[The Simpleton]

a better question to ask would be - "which is the safest OS to use with a browser?"

I'm not saying all OSes are hack-proof, but the OS will decide how much your browser is exposed to attacks. For example, I once visited a site through Google, using Firefox in Windows. That site had some important info I wanted but it also had some irritating adware, which I had to remove using BitDefender. Later I tried visiting the same site, using Firefox, but this time in Ubuntu (Linux) and this time there wasn't any infection Since then I've always been surfing the net only in Ubuntu and haven't had any problems like crashes, attacks, etc, even though Firefox is known to have some of these.

[friendforever]

Thank you everybody who replied. I believe that mozilla firefox is the safest. I never heard about safari. Does it made for windows user?

[Baniboy]

friendforever, on Aug 25 2009, 08:14 PM, said:

Thank you everybody who replied. I believe that mozilla firefox is the safest. I never heard about safari. Does it made for windows user?

Safari is a good one on mac, tho it has a windows version as well. On windows I prefer to use Firefox, when it crashes and I can't even terminate the process in task manager, I use Opera. I hate google chrome! Don't get me wrong, it might be safe to visit websites, but your privacy is attacked by google.

Here in Europe, Firefox is the most popular browser(I remember reading it somewhere, but don't know where. I can confirm that with google analytics anyway.) I usually run linux for my everyday tasks like browsing and stuff like that. I have to say, I'm slowly starting to lean on the linux side for usability (I know you might not agree, but I just feel more comfortable with linux).

As for the safest browser, SM is wrong!!!! You all are! BWAHAHAHAHAAA

Let me introduce you to the safest browser on earth:
Lynx

Why? because it only deals with the text, doesn't know what to do with cookies, javascript, any styling, anything that you might use for doing harm. It doesn't even display images! HAH!

[TheDisturbedOne]

Sounds like on heck of a browser.

I saw this topic, and was going to reply with "none", but S_M beat me to it. The safest that I know of is the iPhone's Safari, since it blocks nearly every filee download, as well as almost all Flash components.

Whatever browser you use, just make sure it gets updated regularly.

[webishqiptar]

A browser is the windows to the world wide web. It is your way to explore the world of Internet. A safe way to search the web seeks a powerful and safe browser too, which combines with powerful add-ons and plugins. Today internet is used for browsing, shopping,trading, communication and entertainment. The better you browse and the better you will experience. Safety is a general problem for Internet surfers and for very acceptable reasons. Hazards are growing everyday. Main problems are viruses, spyware, identity theft and phishing scams. Other things have to do with illegal content for children. And most of the modern browsers try to keep your surfing safe and enjoyable.

Below I will tell some of the criteria and the rank from best to tenth of main Internet browsers( these are relevant to 2008):

Features : Top ten browsers offer great features making the web navigation simples, easir and more convenient.
Ease of use: Dispute of their knowledge about Internet, browsers muste be simple for users.
Security: Browsers must protect from pop-ups, viruses, phishing fraud.
Speed : Modern browsers became faster than ever, and this criteria is a fundamental step to evaluating the rank. These has to do with the way they process HTML and javascript.
Help and Support: Most browsers are free but developers can provide support through emails, forums etc..

So best browsers to 2008 from TopTen reviews are :

Quote

1.Firefox
2.Google Chrome
3.IE
4.Opera
5.Safari
6.Maxthon
7.Flock
8. Avant Browser
9.Deepnet explorer
10.Phaseout

[jamjamnorman]

My favourite is Google Chrome. I have had no problems with this ever since I've had it installed, unlike Firefox which didn't load after about a week of use.

[truefusion]

Baniboy, on Aug 25 2009, 01:52 PM, said:

Let me introduce you to the safest browser on earth:
Lynx

Why? because it only deals with the text, doesn't know what to do with cookies, javascript, any styling, anything that you might use for doing harm. It doesn't even display images! HAH!

I remember having to deal with that browser back when i was a Gentoo user (i.e. when i was installing Gentoo the long, manual way). Interestingly enough, this browser allows you to download files. If it wasn't for that feature in Lynx, i would not have been able to install Gentoo at that time (due to the path i chose for installing Gentoo). The only annoyance with Lynx, though, was trying to navigate to the link you want to "click" on. Although Gentoo tends to install a program that allows you to use the mouse cursor when in the terminal (i.e. non-X environment), it only reduced the annoyance slightly.

[The Simpleton]

I used Lynx for a while too and it was actually fun to use such a thing. It was just like working in a unix shell (well it did execute form the shell) and that's an environment which is always fun to use. But most of today's websites do not support Lynx and thus we can use it only for some of the sites available. That's not such a bad thing, and sometimes Lynx is indeed the safest option available out of the lot.

[rayzoredge]

To be literal, you are the safest Internet browser.

To mitigate online threats, you have to avoid risky online behavior. This includes but is not limited to: downloading possibly-infected files (which, basically, is inclusive of anything you download from the Internet), visiting possibly-hazardous sites with malicious code, looking into spam e-mails, getting phished, and not browsing with security deterrents (router which provides an internal firewall, software firewall, etc.). You also have to watch out for exploits (security holes) that malicious code and hackers can penetrate to gain access to your machine and/or its resources. This is where your operating systems and browsers come in, which everyone has seemed to suggest.

If you want complete security, go with a Linux-based operating system. The reasoning behind this is a robust community that continuously works to update and improve the operating system, keeping you up-to-date with security, features, and other goodies. It also isn't as targeted for attack because of the fact that Linux holds a very small audience with operating systems compared with the alternative.

You could also look into Apple's OSX, which is the second-best for security. OSX is actually the least secure out of all of the popular operating systems available, but as with Linux, it does not have as much of a market share in operating systems as the ubiquitous Windows platform, which makes it secure in the fact that there isn't a lot of threats specifically made for a small audience. Makes sense, right?

Last but not least, we have Windows. Each version of Windows will have its own security flaws and strengths, but keeping up to date with system updates and patches will help prevent the many attacks, exploits, holes, and malware that Windows is infamously plagued with. It is imperative that with a Microsoft OS, you utilize a firewall in conjunction with anti-malware/anti-virus software and whatever else you may deem necessary.

For browsers, it seems that Microsoft Internet Explorer is the large target with its large number of discovered exploits and ActiveX vulnerabilities. Everyone guns for IE because everyone else seems to use it. For this reason alone, you should avoid using Internet Explorer.

However, the use of Mozilla Firefox is growing, and I'm sure that in the future, there will be more guns pointed in this direction. But Mozilla has more than a handful of features to throw back and keep the guns at bay. With extensions like NoScript and built-in security features, along with a robust community and continuous improvements and updates, Firefox may be the most popular and considerably-secure browser to use today.

Opera, Safari, Chrome, and other browsers are still rather low-key as far as market share, so they may or may not be the safest out of the major key players. Like with operating systems, the guns are pointed at the more popular choices, so you are probably good to go. They all seem to have good development, and Safari has the native advantage of being available for OSX, which already houses the security advantages I outlined above. Chrome may actually become a larger player just because of Google's name behind the project, but I believe that it will have the benefits of gradual adoption along with fewer attacks as Firefox had when it emerged to compete with Internet Explorer. Opera, as good of a browser as it is, hasn't garnered as much of an audience as its fans would like, but maybe that's a good thing.

I am currently using Mozilla Firefox with NoScript, Windows XP SP3, and Windows Firewall on my work computer and the same but with SP2 and Norton Internet Security 2009 on my home laptop and I believe that combination of software should suffice for most users. Feel free to play around with other combinations, but just keep in mind that the end-user is the one line of defense that could render all of these security deterrents useless.

[Saint_Michael]

Does anyone even use Lynx anymore? Or we talking to only a minority of unix/linux users that use that browser because you don't see it trying to compete for the web browser market at all and so it makes me wonder if Lynx is of any use in today's browser market.

Definitely have to agree with rayzor on the fact that your the safest browser and so if you know what your doing and your have the computer savvy skills to keep you safe, then it wouldn't really matter what browser you use.

[TheDisturbedOne]

What makes you say that OSX is the least secure? You have to have an administrator's password to install anything, and most viruses won't work on macs, since the process/application is easily detected and halted by a user.

Edited by TheDisturbedOne, 26 August 2009 - 06:07 PM.

[Saint_Michael]

Well, the reason we say OSX is insecure is the fact that Apple has never really field tested it security because of the fact that everyone has been targeting Microsoft for years. So Apple has no idea how secured there system is and if I remember correctly, a few months ago copies of a booby trapped Iworks was passed around and did in fact infect the system. As for why viruses don't work for Mac's is due to the fact they are not programmed for Mac but for Windows and anything PC.

[rayzoredge]

TheDisturbedOne, on Aug 26 2009, 02:06 PM, said:

What makes you say that OSX is the least secure? You have to have an administrator's password to install anything, and most viruses won't work on macs, since the process/application is easily detected and halted by a user.

See my thread on OS security. OSX and Linux are similar in certain ways, such as having to have an administrator password (or the all-mighty root for Linux), but at the same time, I've explored some stuff as to how each operating system works and saw a security article as to why Apple's OS is actually the least secure in terms of exploits, security holes, and penetrability. (It doesn't mean that it's not a safe OS to use, since every one out of a hundred computer users brag about the security of the all-mighty Macintosh. These are also the same people that probably don't have a clue as to why it's so "secure," not to mention that the made-up ratio I gave gives you an idea as to why attacks on OSX are menial compared to the amount of attacks on the Windows platform.)

[rvalkass]

Saint_Michael, on Aug 26 2009, 05:42 PM, said:

Does anyone even use Lynx anymore?

Yup Admittedly, I don't use it as my day-to-day browser (Firefox and Konqueror work well for that), but there were two websites I could only get to work on Lynx - Vodafone and British Gas. Thankfully I don't have to deal with either of them any more, so I can stop using Lynx.

[minimcmonkey]

If you think you can rely on your browser to keep you safe on the internet, think again.
While browsers do their best to keep things out of your system, and keep whats on your system in etc. you need other software (a decent antivirus/antispyware/antirootkit application) These will track down an stop anything that gets in.

I would personally recommentd mozilla firefox. However that is totally based on opinion!
Using a good popup blocker (most popular browsers have them built in now) will keep a lot of malicious software out as a lot of it is distributed via popups.

Hope this helps.

[clarksond]

Internet Explorer 9 is the most secure browser to use on web. If are using IE8 on windows 7 platform, I’d recommend upgrade browser to IE9 as it is faster and safer than IE8. IE9 use SmartScreen Filter that is designed to protect you from web and social engineering threats. Its dynamic security intelligence and safety service protect you from all type of phishing attacks and malicious software. It also works with Download Manager to help protect you from malicious download. You can upgrade browser directly from Microsoft website to keep your PC secure from all kinds of online threats.

Thanks

[anotheraddict]

Unfortunately Internet Explorer is rarely if ever the correct answer to this question, being that it is the flagship browser for the Microsoft suite, it remains the most highly targeted platform for browser based attacks, and while IE9 has taken steps to catch up to the other browsers extensible security features, Chrome and Firefox both hold major trump cards in their plethora of security addons.

Firefox and Chrome with the proper extensions/addons such as : NoScript, AdBlock Plus, Greasemonkey/Stylish, and Better Pop-Up Blocker(chrome). These addons simply put these two browsers ahead of every other on the market

clarksond, on 04 May 2011 - 07:16 AM, said:

Internet Explorer 9 is the most secure browser to use on web. If are using IE8 on windows 7 platform, I’d recommend upgrade browser to IE9 as it is faster and safer than IE8. IE9 use SmartScreen Filter that is designed to protect you from web and social engineering threats. Its dynamic security intelligence and safety service protect you from all type of phishing attacks and malicious software. It also works with Download Manager to help protect you from malicious download. You can upgrade browser directly from Microsoft website to keep your PC secure from all kinds of online threats.

Thanks