Microsoft tool shows how safe browsers really are

Microsoft’s new tool to warn users of out-of-date or insecure browsers has not been welcomed by browser maker Mozilla – not surprising really as it rated Firefox less secure than Internet Explorer 9.

By using data from Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report, and the Anti-Phishing League and Online Trust Alliance - YourBrowserMatters.org was able to assess how secure the user’s browser is.

Internet Explorer 9 got top marks (four out of four), whilst Firefox 7 was given a low two – below Google Chrome and above IE7.

Considering Firefox 7 is only just a month old, it really is no surprise that Mozilla reacted as strongly as it did. The statement from Johnathan Nightingale, Mozilla’s director of Firefox engineering, cited the phrases, “fiercely proud” and “long track record of leadership on security.”

“We believe that being safe on the web means having a robust browser that defends against malware and phishing includes new technologies to help sites and users secure themselves, and a responsive security team that gets security updates out quickly and reliably," he added.

Mozilla’s and Google support the HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) secure browsing standard and the Do Not Track privacy initiative. Nightingale pointed out Microsoft’s lack of these in its tool.

"Microsoft's site is more notable for the things it fails to include: security technologies such as HSTS, privacy tools such as Do Not Track, and vendor response time when vulnerabilities are discovered."

Do Not track has yet to become an official web standard, but Sir Tim Berners-Lee, web founder, has been pushing for security professionals to input to the W3C’s Do Not Track working group.

All such tools designed to check the safety of our browsers should, perhaps, meet a universal code that all companies are happy with. Or is that just wishful thinking?