Strengths and weaknesses of MS SmartScreen filter

Microsoft’s SmartScreen application control feature, introduced with Internet Explorer 8 and lately ported to Windows 8 is a good addition to the new OS. It might occasionally block a legitimate app from running, but it will also block many malicious ones, as well. That being said, SmartScreen has its limitations.

In this podcast recorded at Virus Bulletin 2013, NSS Labs Research Director Randy Abrams talks about what the feature is good at and where it fails, and shares what other protection technologies do a good job picking up the slack.

Listen to the podcast here.


Research Director Randy Abrams brings a wealth of experience in malware and virus research to the NSS Labs team. Previously, he was the Director of Technical Education for six years at ESET, and from 1993 to 2005, worked at Microsoft where he developed and managed the processes to prevent their software from being released with malware.

Abrams has presented at dozens of international security conferences, is often quoted in articles for several security publications, and has served on the board of directors for the Association of Antivirus Asia Researchers since 2000.