Why Internet Explorer Security is important

Internet Explorer is a modern browser, and millions of computer users worldwide are using it on a daily basis. It is therefore a valuable tool, and it works fast and reliable. However Internet Explorer Security must be learned and Internet Explorer must be properly configured. Otherwise, the risks are pretty high, and your computer may suffer damage or someone from outside may even take control over it.

Let's outline in few words into why Internet Explorer Security is important. This has to do with what Internet Explorer does, and how it is used. First of all, Internet Explorer is a browser - it has to do with navigating the web. Whenever a user wants to see a website, he/she commonly starts by clicking a link or typing an URL (web address) into Internet Explorer address bar. As a result, the browser, Internet Explorer in our case, fetches the remote page and deliveres it to the user for viewing and use.

But there are more things in this process that users may not be aware of. First of all, Internet Explorer does not really download just a picture from the remote site and show it - it downloads pictures as well but does a lot more. What it does first is to download a piece of special code - the HTML code. Once this code is downloaded, Internet Explorer parses it and executes various commands. It constructs the layout, the basic appearance of the resulting page, sometimes using additional external or internal formatting code, known as CSS. It also loads a number of images contained in the page, and as a result the full page is loaded and shown to the user.

However, there are more things that Internet Explorer can load and execute. First of all, it can download and execute remote scripts from a website, either JavaScript or VbScript. Some of these scripts can be damaging for your computer (especially if you have not updated your Internet Explorer browser with the latest security patches). Also, Internet Explorer can run Java applets, which are programs that run from within a web page; however security risks with Java are smaller due to the way Java works. Finally, Internet Explorer can download, install and execute ActiveX objects. This type of objects, although in most cases useful, can be really dangerous since once they are installed, they have direct and unlimited access to your computer, hard drive and files, and if such an object is a malitious piece of code intended to take control over your computer and do nasty things with it, it has all it needs to do so once installed into your computer.

Therefore, as you can see, it is important to understand and properly configure Internet Explorer Security options, in order to protect yourself from web-based attacks. It is also equally important to keep your browser update, through the Automatic Updates service. In the next article we will refer to Internet Explorer security options and what would be the best choices for most users, in this area.