The independent security research and testing organization, NSS Labs, just released two reports that say Internet Explorer leads the field in protection against socially engineered malware, specifically fake links that you might see in an email or on your social networking site.
According to the report, Internet Explorer caught 96% of this kind of malware.
Source: NSS Labs, August 2011 – Global Socially Engineered Malware Protection
Read the full report. (PDF)
More information about how Internet Explorer 9 protects your computer from malware.
Beth writes:
“I could not get my Windows Defender to work after installing Microsoft Security Essentials. Why?”
Windows 7 and Windows Vista both come with antispyware software called Windows Defender. If you want to protect your computer from more than spyware, you can install Microsoft Security Essentials for free.
Download Microsoft Security Essentials.
Because you don’t need both programs, when you install Microsoft Security Essentials it will automatically disable (but not uninstall) Windows Defender. For more information, see Do I need both Microsoft Security Essentials and another antivirus software program?
Need security for your business?
Microsoft Security Essentials is available for small businesses with up to 10 PCs. If your business has more than 10 PCs, you can protect your computers with Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection.
Are you curious about what happens when someone complains about offensive behavior on Xbox LIVE? The Xbox LIVE Policy and Enforcement team, including Boris Erickson, Xbox LIVE Enforcement Unicorn Ninja (that’s his real job title) help make sure the 35 million gamers on the Xbox LIVE network behave themselves.
To learn more about the Unicorn Ninja, the Xbox LIVE Policy and Enforcement team, and to read safety tips, see Xbox LIVE Enforcement “Unicorn Ninja” Keeps Service Safe and Fun for Everyone.
If you use Office XP or Windows Vista Service Pack 1, upgrade now to help keep your computer safe.
On July 12, 2011 both Office XP and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 reached the end of the Extended Support phase of their lifecycles. This means Microsoft Update and automatic updating will not offer security updates for these versions any longer.
If you use Office XP, upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010. Microsoft recommends that you upgrade to Windows 7, but you can use Windows Update to get Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) automatically.
For more information see:
Microsoft releases security updates on the second Tuesday of every month. Today Microsoft released 13 security updates.
Get the updates.
Watch a video about the updates.
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It’s human nature to want the newest of the new, especially when it comes to technology. But you can get over any guilt you might feel about upgrading to a new computer, by recycling your old computer.
There are two safety concerns that you should think about when you discard an old PC:
A Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher can help you do both of these.
Find a refurbisher.
Interested in buying a pre-owned computer? See Get a Refurbished Computer Today.
If you don’t want to use a refurbisher, here is a partial list of the places where personal information exists on your computer:
The best way to clear this information is with software. For more information and recommendations for software that will clean up your hard drive, see Protect and purge your personal files.
The Hotmail team has been busy. Three of our favorite new security improvements are:
No more easy passwords. You might know that millions of people use the word “password” as their password. But did you know that millions of people also use “ilovecats” and “gogiants”? Hackers know this. And so do engineers at Hotmail. That’s why, very soon, you will no longer be able to use these weak passwords and others like it. If you already have a weak password, Hotmail might ask you to change it in the future. Find out how to create a strong password.
Help your hacked friends. The first people to know that your Hotmail account has been compromised are often the people in your contact list who get spam from you. Hotmail has a new feature that lets you report someone else’s account has been hacked. You can even report people who use other email providers and Hotmail will send that information to the appropriate people.
For more information, see Help! My friend’s account has been hacked.
Better encryption. If you use the Outlook Hotmail Connector to manage your Hotmail account in Outlook, your email, contacts and calendar are now more secure. The newest version of the Outlook Hotmail Connector adds support of the HTTPS protocol for all communication between Outlook and Hotmail.
You can manually install the newest version of the Outlook Hotmail Connector 32-bit and 64-bit versions for Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 on Windows.
Note: If you don’t know whether your computer is running a 32-bit or a 64-bit version of Windows, see 32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions.
Hotmail has also expanded our SSL protection for other Windows Live services too. For more information, see An update on SSL support.