Is Your Web Browser Secure Enough?

NSS Labs recently revealed the results of their browser security test that focused on the phishing and malware protection of popular web browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.

Some of the key takeaways from the report highlighted that protection had improved over time, with the most consistently updated products providing the best malware and phishing protection. Phishing protection turned out to be more consistent, with rates ranging from 79.2% to 95.5%. On the other hand, the malware block rate was 98.5% at the highest and 5.6% at the lowest.

Socially engineered malware that is made to look like legitimate software and spread through instant messages, email, SMS, and links on social platforms has been very prominent, especially with so many people working and studying remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Successful malware attacks can lead to severe consequences, such as financial losses and identity theft.

Phishing attacks can have the same consequences and are carried out in a similar manner. Many attackers lure their victims to websites that are made to look exactly like social media, charity, banking, payroll, and streaming services to harvest their login credentials, card, and bank account numbers, and any other private information they could get their hands on. Furthermore, these bogus landing pages can also be used to install malware on the victim's system.

Browser security has become a focus in the battle against malware and phishing. The ability to warn potential victims about a malicious website that they are trying to access puts browsers in a unique position when it comes to malware, phishing, and other remote attacks. Browsers can work like cloud-based reputation systems that look for malicious websites and categorize internet content in blacklists or whitelists, or assign it a score.

Vikram Phatak, a founder of NSS Labs, elaborated on the matter: "As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees have been forced to work from home and now have unprecedented remote access to corporate resources. Threat actors are shifting tactics to target these remote employees who may not benefit from corporate protection. This makes the protection offered by web browsers more important than ever."