Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Free Dell Web Browser Tool Protects Desktop from Malware

Dell, through its Kace unit, is making available free Web browser security software that works by creating a protective "sandbox" on the desktop to isolate the user's desktop from malware or other harmful actions that might be encountered browsing the Web.

"Browsers, we all know, are a big target," says Bob Meinhardt, president of Dell Kace, the systems management vendor acquired by Dell earlier this year.

[ Learn how to secure your systems with Roger Grimes' Security Adviser blog and Security Central newsletter, both from InfoWorld. ]

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Calling it simply Secure Browser, Dell Kace executives acknowledge the free browser security software works somewhat along the lines of that seen with browser sandboxing technology from GreenBorder Technologies, which was acquired by Google in 2007, and integrated into the Google Chrome product. Bob Kelly, senior product manager of Dell Kace, says Kace derives its technology, which it likes to call "application virtualization," from its acquisition of the company Computers in Motion two years ago.

The Dell Kace Secure Browser tool is said to use a kind of re-direction so that browser activity is shifted to an alternate area of the computer to isolate and contain harmful code. The 10MB security software, available for download from Dell's Kace site, is based on the current Firefox browser and Adobe Flash and Reader Plug-Ins.

The security tool also lets the user create what are called whitelists and blacklists of Web sites allowed to be visited. In a managed environment, the Dell Kace browser security software can be included as a managed application with the Dell Kace K1000 v5.1 Management Appliance, typically used in mid- to large enterprises.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Microsoft offers web browser choice to IE users

Millions of European Internet Explorer (IE) users will have the option to choose an alternative browser from 1 March, Microsoft has announced.

It follows a legal agreement between Microsoft and Europe's Competition Commission in December 2009.

Microsoft committed to letting Windows PC users across Europe install the web browser of their choice, rather than having Microsoft IE as a default.

Figures suggest that over half the world's internet users have IE.

Testing for the update is already underway in the UK, Belgium and France.

The software update choice will arrive automatically for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 customers, according to a blog post by Dave Heiner, Microsoft's vice president and deputy general counsel.

The blog also contains screen grabs of the message as it will appear.

"Users who get the choice screen will be free to choose any browser or stick with the browser they have, as they prefer," wrote Mr Heiner.

Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera are among the alternative browsers that people will be offered.

"Millions of people who have never really thought about which browser to use will now be forced to make a choice," said BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones on his blog.

"That presents Microsoft's rivals with a unique marketing opportunity."

Mozilla Foundation chair Mitchell Baker described the news as "an important milestone towards helping people take control of their online lives."