User manual MICROSOFT WINDOWS INTERNET EXPLORER 8

[. . . ] The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. A Safer Online Experience 2 ____________________________________________________________________________ Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 How Internet Explorer 8 Helps You Stay Safer Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 How Cybercriminals Operate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Protecting Against Attacks on You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [. . . ] With Internet Explorer 8, we are blocking 10 times more attempts by cybercriminals to trick users into installing malware as we block attempts to phish users every day. At least one in every 200 downloads is malware that we are protecting users from with the SmartScreen filter in Internet Explorer 8. In addition, our research has shown that Internet Explorer 8 has better protection from socially engineered malware attacks than other browsers on the market today. This is why you, your friends, and your family should upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 today ­ one in 40 of them could be protected from attacks this week. 1 (For phone numbers in your region, please visit www. microsoft. com/protect/support/. ) A Safer Online Experience 4 ____________________________________________________________________________ How Cybercriminals Operate So, how are cybercriminals a threat to you?Today's online threats generally fall into two types: attacks on you, and attacks on your computer. What Can You Do To Be Safer?The most important thing you can do today is upgrade your browser ­ download Internet Explorer 8 today at www. microsoft. com/ie8. You should also keep all the other software on your PC up to date ­ use Microsoft Update to install all critical and optional updates, and make sure your browser add-ons and other applications are current. Attacks on you attempt to trick you into an unsafe activity. They might appear to be something benign or familiar, such as a free game, an email from your bank, or even a You should also install a current anti-virus product security warning. clicking on a link or entering information on a fraudulent site, cybercriminals can collect Pay attention to security warnings from your your bank account information or logins and firewall and anti-virus software ­ but beware of the kinds of fake security warnings described in passwords for your favorite sites, or install this paper ­ and make sure your firewall is on and malicious software to steal personal up to date. Unfortunately, no Internet service provider has spam protection, so matter what operating system or browser you that less unwanted and fraudulent email reaches use, this often puts the burden on you to your inbox. make decisions about whether a particular site, link or download is trustworthy. Our For information on how to do all of this, and to approach to these threats is to make those learn more about phishing, malware and other decisions on your behalf where we can, while threats, visit www. microsoft. com/protect. giving you the information you need to spot these deceptions and avoid these kinds of attacks. These attacks often deliver malicious programs to your computer, without your consent or awareness. They do this by leveraging vulnerabilities in the websites you visit or the software on your PC to install malicious software or compromise your personal information. A large percentage of these attacks are mitigated just by keeping the software on your PC current, but Internet Explorer 8 also includes some features to prevent or avoid these kinds of attacks. Protecting Against Attacks On You Cybercriminals continue to rely on deceptive social engineering attacks to prey on unsuspecting web users. Whether it's via an email that appears to be from your bank, a search result for popular content such as games and movies, an advertisement or a link in an instant message promising free stuff, or a fake notification from a social networking site, there is virtually no trick they haven't tried. These attacks are intentionally genuine-looking, and rarely does the victim know they're at risk until it's too late. Microsoft developed the SmartScreen filter for Internet Explorer 8 so you can browse with more confidence ­ knowing you have a greater chance of being protected when you are targeted by one of these attacks. The SmartScreen filter is a set of technologies designed to help protect users from evolving web and social engineering threats. SmartScreen is "URL reputation-based, " which means that it evaluates the web addresses of servers hosting downloads and potential phishing sites to A Safer Online Experience 5 ____________________________________________________________________________ determine if those sites are known to distribute malicious programs or steal personal information. SmartScreen leverages advanced intelligence and our community of hundreds of millions of users who report suspicious sites to evaluate millions of web addresses every day to find the most recent and relevant attack sites. [. . . ] In this attack, you might receive an email that contains a tampered website address. Once you click on the link, you are directed to a legitimate website that has been compromised to contain malicious content that can capture keystrokes and record your login and password. A Safer Online Experience 9 ____________________________________________________________________________ Internet Explorer 8 includes a cross-site scripting filter that can detect these types of attacks and disable the harmful scripts. Unlike other web browsers, Internet Explorer 8 offers this protection right out of the box, and turned on by default. Figure 6: Internet Explorer 8 detects potential cross-site scripting vulnerabilities and disables harmful scripts. Click-jacking: Click-jacking is an emerging online threat where an attacker's web page deceives you into clicking on content from another website without you realizing it. For example, it might hide a legitimate webpage as a "frame" inside a malicious page. [. . . ]