The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is taking a swing at the security problem that’s on everybody’s mind these days: Web browser security. In a statement, the group said that its new initiative, dubbed The Secure Browsing Initiative, would seek to build a foundation for a “more secure Web” and “help people make proper trust decisions.” Director Tim Berners-Lee (who invented the Web, after all) was quoted saying:

“There is much deployed and proven security technology, but we now need to connect it all the way through to the Web user. A Web browser acts on my behalf as I surf the Web, and I need more help from it to avoid being spoofed.”

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Lofty goals, indeed. So what does W3C have to offer? Well, they want to create a common understanding of what kinds of information browsers should provide to gauge “security context,” then find ways to display that information and design secure Web browser interfaces that aren’t susceptible to spoofing.

The new initiative grows out of a Workshop on Usability and Transparency of Web Authentication in March 2006 that involved companies like Google, HP, IBM, KDE, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia, Opera, Sun Microsystems, VeriSign, Yahoo! with representatives of the online finance community that found interest in secure interfaces and the data required from content providers to enable those interfaces.

W3C is hoping to get participation from leading Web browser vendors and the security, research and financial sectors on this problem, not to mention IETF, OASIS, and Liberty Alliance.

Read the entire entry …

MSAS did well at removing spyware. Despite its elaborate Security Agent protections, it let more than half of our test spyware install. Still, it’s free! Use it if you’re on a budget, or use it in conjunction with another antispyware tool.

Does a decent job of spyware removal; has excellent, detailed information about specific threats; can clean surfing traces; can restore many IE settings; blocks hijack attempts.

Did not do well at blocking installation of spyware; single-window user interface can be hard to navigate.

Microsoft Corporation
http://www.microsoft.com

By Neil J. Rubenking
Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (MWAS) is still in beta, but it’s getting better by the day. We found the program quite effective at removing spyware but less so at blocking its initial installation. MWAS is alone in this group in not supporting Windows 98 or Me. The program’s Security Agents monitor your system and attempt to nip suspicious activity in the bud. There are a total of 59 agents in three categories: Internet, System, and Application. You can review details about the agents and turn them on or off, but we suggest you leave them all on. An event viewer lists every action performed by the monitors in great detail.

Navigating the single-window interface can be confusing–at times we had trouble figuring out how to get back to a particular view. But MWAS does a great job of showing what was found or removed on your system. For each suspect item, it both lists a threat level and displays a visual cue. You can open each listed threat to see all of the traces it comprises. A detail panel displays a description for the selected item along with a suggested course of action; click a link for more information online. The program’s logs clearly show just what threats were found and how they were handled.

If you opt in to the SpyNet AntiSpyware Community, MWAS will send information about new threats detected by its Security Agents to Microsoft’s antispyware researchers. It encrypts the data, which, according to Microsoft, includes no personal information.

In addition to protecting against home-page and search hijacks, MWAS will store values for another dozen-odd IE settings, such as the Customize Search page and the page displayed when navigation fails. If spyware changes these, you can use MWAS to change them back to your preferred values. MWAS’s System Explorers let you view and modify a variety of security-related system areas, from programs launching at start-up to IE Toolbars to the Hosts file. And it can clean up your Internet surfing traces as well as recent-files lists for numerous common programs.

Microsoft Windows Anti-Spyware won’t be free forever, but while it is, it’s a great choice for those on a budget. You might even use it in conjunction with another antispyware product–in this case, two heads really are better than one. Just don’t forget to use only one for real-time protection.
/pcmag.com/