Which browser is the safest?

This blog is for Mac, Linux, and Windows users.

There are dozens of internet browsers out there on the internet and they all claim to be the best. But, in the end, what really matters when browsing the web is safety. Sure, you could have the fastest browser on the web, but the moment a virus floods through your network, that browser won't be going far.

=== Internet Explorer

Let's take a look at the most common browser: Internet Explorer (IE). Is it safe? Well, in the end, no. Internet Explorer is hard-coded into the Windows operating system. A virus has a much easier time getting through your browser and into your computer because of this. IE is literally attached to your Windows environment, which is supposedly great for integration. It's also great for easy viral spreading. So, let's go ahead and lock IE away for good.

=== Firefox

The next most common browser is Mozilla Firefox. For general use, I would highly recommend this application. It's a separate program from Windows. What does this mean? Well, a virus needs to get through Mozilla Firefox's defense. After that, it needs to penetrate your Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, and natural Windows defenses. It has a lot more ground to cover in comparison to Internet Explorer. This is the second most common browser, and for good reason. To sum it up, it's fast, free, easy to use, and safe. If you're not looking for a lot of bells and whistles and just want an easy browser to work with, I'd say this is the browser for you. Firefox is available on all platforms. Check it out at: www.firefox.com

=== Safari

Let's take a look at Safari. If you're running a Mac, I'd say you could either stick with this or go over to Mozilla Firefox. Since Mac already seems to have decent immunity to viral infections, it really doesn't matter what you use. However, since Apple doesn't really need to focus strongly on Internet Security, Safari is very unsafe for Windows users. If you use Windows, don't use Safari.

Now, you may be thinking, "What other browsers are there besides these three? And how do they differ?" Well, I'm glad you asked!

=== Flock - The Social Web Browser

Do you like to blog, tweet, post on facebook/myspace/youtube/flickr/digg, check your mail frequently, or are simply very socially involved in the online world? This is the browser for you. It's based off of the Mozilla Firefox engine, so it's fast, safe, and secure. In addition to the already great Firefox capabilities, it has so much more. It's easily integrated with your social networking websites that were previously mentioned in this paragraph. I use Flock as my main browser, and I've grown very fond of it's capabilities and how it speeds up a lot of my daily internet tasks. Flock is available on all platforms. Feel free to check it out: www.flock.com

=== Google Chrome - Browse the web on steroids!

This internet browser is fairly new, but very powerful and fast. At the time of this writing, it is not available for Mac computers yet, but they're currently developing one, so it shouldn't be long. Overall, this browser is one of the fastest I've seen. I haven't taken a whack at analyzing the security of it, but from what I've heard it's safe and secure. The only reason I wouldn't recommend this over Firefox is because I don't personally don't know a lot about it's safety online. I feel confident that anything made from Google will be fairly safe and secure, though. I'll probably have a whole blog dedicated to this once I take a look at it. Google Chrome is available for Windows users only at the moment. It can be downloaded at www.google.com/chrome

=== Opera - Browse the web, both inside and out!

This is the last browser I will be covering today. Overall, Opera is a fantastic browser. It seems as though it was designed for those that frequently partake in file-sharing and security analysis. Opera has capabilities that no other browser has in reference to Internet and Information Security. I typically use Opera on Linux because of it's security capabilities. It's very fast and incredibly safe. Opera also has a BitTorrent client integrated into it, which means you can download torrents and file-sharing without having to go through multiple applications. Everything from it's "Speed Dial" and "Bookmarking" capabilities, all the way to it's flawless business solutions makes this one of my top three favorites. If I'm not using Flock, I'm most likely using Opera. I'll end up blogging about Opera's capabilities in more detail fairly soon. It deserves that much attention!

That's all for now. I hope you've found this blog informative. If you have, feel free to comment, subscribe, or toss it onto your RSS reader!

Thanks for reading,

-Nick