IE8 SmartScreen Filter blocks malware

Windows XP or Windows Vista users who have their automatic software update turned on will be notified that Internet Explorer version 8 is now available for download.

The new version runs faster and smoother than version 7 according to the author of the article at The Washington Post.

One of the new features is called SmartScreen Filter. This feature blocks phishing sites but the article mentions that this does not work well against the top sites that distribute rogue anti-virus products. Of course Microsoft believes otherwise, take a look at what they say the filter does:

SmartScreen’s malware protection focuses on identifying and blocking sites on the web that are distributing malicious software. As a reputation-based feature, SmartScreen can block new threats from existing malicious sites, even if those threats are not yet blocked by traditional anti-virus or anti-malware signatures. In this way, the SmartScreen filter complements traditional anti-virus products by providing additional dimensions for both identification and protection. For comprehensive protection from malware, we highly recommend that users also install traditional anti-virus products and keep them up to date.

You can read more about Internet Explorer 8 and its SmartScreen filter here: IE8