2010 Q3 Web Browser Group Test: Socially-Engineered Malware

In September 2010, NSS Labs performed the fourth test of web browser protection against socially-engineered malware—the most common and impactful security threat facing Internet users today.

This report followed the same Live Testing methodology as the tests conducted in Q1 2009, Q3 2009, and Q1 2010 and contains empirically-validated evidence gathered during 11 days of 24 x 7 testing, performed every six hours, over 39 discrete test runs, each one adding fresh new malware URLs. Each product was updated to the most current version available at the time testing began, and allowed access to the live Internet.

Browsers provide a layer of protection against socially-engineered malware, in addition to endpoint protection products; as this report shows, not all are created equal.