Internet Explorer 9 is most secure browser

Windows Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) is the best browser for blocking malware infections spread via social networks according to research undertaken by NSS Labs.

In its report, NSS Labs says that IE9 catches 99 per cent of malicious web-links spread through social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Demonstrating how far ahead IE9 is for IT security, Google Chrome came second catching 13 per cent of threats, followed by Apple Safari 5 and Mozilla Firefox which both intercepted eight per cent, and Opera 11 blocking six per cent.

With the use of social media sites growing outside the personal sphere and into business applications, such as customer service and marketing, IT users and professionals alike need to be aware of just how vulnerable they are - the report stated that between 15000 and 50000 new malware programmes are being added to the web every day.

Latest figures from the European Union’s statistic office Eurostat found that almost one-third of internet users caught a virus or malware infection in 2010 resulting in a loss of either information or time rectifying the problem, with three per cent reporting financial loss due to internet attacks.