How IE7 Protects You.
By
Team Digit |
Updated on 01-Sep-2006
Internet Explorer 6
- When you surf the Internet as the Administrator of your PC, Internet Explorer 6 runs with the same privileges you have-including the ones that can cause damage. Now, as you know, there’s a lot of malicious code out there
- If malicious code manages to bypass the protection built into IE6 and enter your system, it, too, gets to run with the same privileges. It has access to everything you have access to, and can wreak havoc
- After the damage has been done, you’ll just be left feeling mighty miffed-and all you wanted to do was surf the Net!
Internet Explorer 7
- In Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7 runs in a separate “sandbox” of its own, with much lower privileges, even if you run it as the Administrator. You’re still open to potential attacks, of course
- Any malicious code that manages to get into your PC will run in this sandbox. Let it cause all the damage it wants to! But thanks to the lowered privileges it has, the damage doesn’t make a difference
- Finally, when you close IE7, the sandbox is done with and packed up, leaving the rest of your OS safe and sound