Protected Mode

With Windows Vista, Microsoft includes the latest version of Internet Explorer, IE7. However, on Windows Vista IE7 has some new security options which help make surfing the Web even safer, namely Protected Mode.

Protected Mode is a security measure which relies on Windows Vista's new WIC (Windows Integrity Control) security to control how objects interact with each other. By default, when Protected Mode is enabled, every process and file associated with Internet Explorer is assigned a Low integrity level.

By comparison, standard users are granted a Medium integrity level and any object (file, process, etc.) that is not specifically granted a different integrity level is considered Medium by default. WIC will not let an object act on, or interact with an object of a higher integrity level than itself, so malicious processes and files from the Internet that try to infect or compromise the computer system will be rejected. Low can not overwrite or interact with Medium, so Internet Explorer loses.

There are, of course, instances where you want or need a web site to write to or work with your system. When you encounter a site like this, you might be inclined to just disable Protected Mode, even just for a little while. This is not advisable however because it leaves your whole system wide open to attack.

Like previous versions of Internet Explorer, IE7 has Security Zones which you can use to segregate web sites into different levels of trust. If you need certain processes or applets to work on a specific site and they won't work in Protected Mode, rather than turning off Protected Mode you should add the site in question to the Trusted zone, which has Protected Mode disabled by default.

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Spyware, Viruses, and Other Online Threats - Is Your PC Properly Protected?

AOL and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) released their second annual Online Safety Study a few months back, and the results weren't pretty. While the latest survey did find that users were getting better at taking the steps necessary to keep their PCs properly secured, the findings show that there are still plenty of people who just don't understand online risks.

Some of the key facts uncovered by the Online Safety Study included:


81% of home PCs lack one of the three main sources of protection - a secure firewall, anti-virus software, and spyware protection.
56% of users had no anti-virus software installed, or had not updated their virus definition files in the last week.
44% of users did not have a properly-configured firewall in place.
38% of users lacked spyware protection.
Most telling, perhaps, is the fact that even in light of these findings, 83% of users surveyed still believed that their PCs were safe and properly secured.

The online security threat landscape has certainly changed from the days when viruses were home users' biggest worry, but the survey shows that users are largely not keeping up with the times. Every PC connected to the Internet today should be configured with the following (at an absolute minimum):


A personal firewall capable of filtering both inbound and outbound traffic.
Updated anti-virus software that offers real-time protection, the ability to scan on-demand, and email message scanning features.
Updated anti-spyware software that not only scans for and removes spyware on demand, but also proactively protects against threats in real-time.
Windows Automatic Updates turned on (to download and install critical security patches, service packs, and updates automatically), or weekly visits to the Windows Update web site to obtain the latest critical updates.

Thankfully, keeping your PC updated and properly protected against online threats needn't cost you a penny. There are a number of anti-virus, anti-spyware, and personal firewall programs available free for personal use. A simple web search will turn up direct links to some of the more popular options, which I will be discussing in more detail in future articles.

For the time being, however, considering beginning your PC lockdown process by taking a look at my beginner's guide to eradicating spyware, The Best Free Anti-Spyware Programs. A secure PC is a fast PC, so take the time to start locking down your home computer today. Your system will thank you!

Dan DiNicolo is the author of the book PC Magazine Windows XP Security Solutions, and the managing editor of the online learning web site 2000Trainers.com