How secure is your web browser?

NSS Labs released the results of its web browser security test after testing Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera, for phishing protection and malware protection.

Key takeaways

• Phishing protection rates ranged from 79.2% to 95.5%
• For malware, the highest block rate was 98.5% and the lowest block rate was 5.6%
• Protection improved over time; the most consistent products provided the best protection against phishing and malware.

Email, instant messages, SMS messages and links on social networking sites are used by criminals to lure victims to download and install malware disguised as legitimate software (a.k.a. socially engineered malware). Once the malware is installed, victims are subjected to identity theft, bank account compromise, and other devastating consequences.

Those same techniques are also used for phishing attacks, where victims are lured to websites impersonating banking, social media, charity, payroll, and other legitimate websites; victims are then tricked into providing passwords, credit card and bank account numbers, and other private information.

In addition, landing pages (URLs) from phishing websites are another way attackers exploit victim’s computers and silently install malicious software.

Protecting against malware and phishing

The ability to warn potential victims that they are about to stray onto a malicious website puts web browsers in a unique position to combat phishing, malware, and other criminal attacks.

To protect against malware and phishing attacks, browsers use cloud-based reputation systems that scour the internet for malicious websites and then categorize content accordingly, either by adding it to blocklists or whitelists, or by assigning it a score.

“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,” said Vikram Phatak, founder of NSS Labs.

Tested browsers

• Google Chrome – version 81.0.4044.113 – 81.0.4044.138
• Microsoft Edge – version 83.0.478.10 – 84.0.516.1
• Mozilla Firefox – version 75.0 – 76.0.1
• Opera – version 67.0.3575.137 – 68.0.3618.125