Browsers are one of the keys to internet security. Actually, I suppose they’re really more like the car than the key. After all, they’re the vehicle we use to travel around the web. Occasionally an unwanted passenger jumps on board though, and could even carjack your browser - taking you somewhere you don’t want to be.

The question is, what can you do to stop them?

There are quite a few things that you can do, the first being choosing an alternative browser. Microsoft Internet Explorer has the majority of the market, but there are others such as Firefox or Opera that can offer more security.

Even if they’re not actually more secure, these other browsers are not as likely to be targeted simply because the people who attack them prefer to go where they’ll get the biggest bang for the buck. Until laws change and software vendors get more serious about the security of their products, the best way to avoid being targeted is to lay low.

Another important factor in improving browser security is to learn more about it.

There are dozens of options in Internet Explorer and other browsers that control what components triggered during surfing are allowed to do. Very few users have much knowledge about what they’re for or the effects of setting them one way versus another.

For example, is it desirable to ‘Allow ActiveX controls and plug-ins’ to Run, or should that be set to Prompt? Individual judgments here, as in all aspects of security in life, have to be made. One factor is your tolerance for responding to prompts versus your willingness to risk infection. After all, you have to decide whom to let in your car, don’t you?

This is the sort of trade-off that is a pain in the neck and hopefully won’t be necessary one day. For now, however, you should do some reading to learn more about these settings and how they affect you. If your computer ever crashes because of some internet security attack, you’ll wish you’d spent the time to learn it.

Another important factor here is how you use your browser. If a warning message pops up when you’re on a website, do you just click OK and move on or do you actually read it? Unless you know for a fact that you can trust the site, it’s always best to be thorough.

Most users are unaware of the extent to which using a browser opens up their system to the rest of the world. Being on the Internet means not just seeing, but being visible. And accessing sites usually means being accessible. It isn’t just harmless cookies that can be downloaded to your system. Once executable programs are downloaded they often have free rein to your entire system.

Take some time to learn how to lock your system down, even beyond just the browser, to make sure that you won’t be hit by some kind of attack.

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