“Socially engineering attacks like malware are a growing threat on the internet and are one of the most common risks to people’s safety online” wrote Microsoft’s James Pratt.

“We have got better and better at blocking malware through the SmartScreen Filter because we have continued to invest in our back end service since we released IE8 in March 2009″ said Pratt.

In the last two months, more than 100 million malware attempts have been blocked by Internet Explorer 8, 5 times as many as the same time last year, with more than 1.7 times the users.

The continued investment and development of malware protection is great for consumers, and helps keep their home PC’s safe.

Malware, also known as phishing (pronounced fishing), protection can also be found in other popular browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, and Opera.

“You wouldn’t drink 9 year old milk, so why use a 9-year-old browser” asks Microsoft.

“When Internet Explorer 6 was launched in 2001, it offered cutting–edge security – for the time. Since then, the Internet has evolved and the security features of Internet Explorer 6 have become outdated. With the latest state–of–the–art security features, Internet Explorer 8 is designed to cope with today’s modern cyber crime” says Microsoft’s introduction.

The campaign is aimed at existing IE6 users, which still make up 17.58% of the web browsers world-wide according to Market Share by Net Applications.

Microsoft Australia’s campaign can be seen here, along with some very interesting fraud facts.

A new security advisory was posted by Microsoft last Wednesday, notifying users of a potential flaw in Internet Explorer which could allow third-parties access to data.

“Our investigation so far has shown that if a user is using a version of Internet Explorer that is not running in Protected Mode an attacker may be able to access files with an already known filename and location” said the advisory from Microsoft.

At this stage, there are no reported attacks using this vulnerability, but it is bound to be only a matter of time.

A patch is expected in a few days, on Tuesday 9th February 2010.

“This security update resolves seven privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The more severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights” said a note from Microsoft.

The update includes fixes for IE5.01, IE6, IE7, and IE8 on platforms from Windows 2000 to the newely released Windows 7.

The updated is rated critical and will be pushed out to all users who have Windows Update turned on. Alternatively, system administrators can find out more information plus download links in the Security Bulletin MS10-002.

Microsoft has hit back at claims, noting that the attacks could be avoided if the security zone settings were set to high.

“Using Internet Explorer in ‘secure mode’, as well as turning off Active Scripting, makes attacks more difficult but can not fully prevent them,” BSI said in a further statement.

Microsoft has acknowledged the vulnerability, which is present in all versions of Internet Explorer, including IE8 on Windows 7.

Microsoft is expected to release a patch in the coming weeks.

“Google Chrome Frame is an early-stage open source plug-in that seamlessly brings Google Chrome’s open web technologies and speedy JavaScript engine” and currently works in Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8.

This plug-in would allow organisations to keep Internet Explorer 6, but still allow users to see pages that use HTML5 and advanced CSS features.

More information can be found on the Google Chrome Frame website.

Up until now, most of the HTML5 draft has been worked on by rivals Apple, Mozilla, Opera and Google.

According to reports, Internet Explorer Program Manager Adrian Bateman has sent a letter to the World Wide Web Consortium, with Microsoft’s thoughts and queries on the current editor’s draft.

“As part of our planning for future work, the IE team is reviewing the current editor’s draft of the HTML5 spec and gathering our thoughts. We want to share our feedback and discuss this in the working group. I will post our notes as we collect them so we can iterate on our thinking more quickly. At this stage we have more questions than answers, but I believe that discussing them in public is the best way to make progress” said a letter from Bateman.

Microsoft hasn’t completely ignored HTML5, with Internet Explorer 8 including support for the DOM Store, Ajax Navigation, Cross Document Messaging and Cross Domain Messaging, all components of  HTML 5.

More developments are sure to continue.

This is a big win for consumers, with the EU acknowledging the decision. “The European Commission can confirm that Microsoft has proposed a consumer ballot screen as a solution to the pending antitrust case.”

“We believe that if ultimately accepted, this proposal will fully address the European competition law issues relating to the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows and interoperability with our high-volume products,” said Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith.

A proposed ballot screen can be seen below:

The move to remove the browser from the operating system is a direct result of action taking against Microsoft by the European Union with companies such as Opera and Mozilla.

Internet Explorer 8 will however remain free for users to download, along with competing browsers. The biggest issue that most will face is the inability to browse to websites on a fresh install of Windows 7 to download a browser of their choice.

This is not expected to be a problem for those who buy their PC’s from manufactures such as Dell and HP, as they are still expected to bundle browsers with new systems.

The ad was aimed at promoting Microsoft’s InPrivate browsing feature, but now has users wondering if it is even an Microsoft creation.

Featuring actor Dean Cain, the ad shows a woman vomiting after seeing her husband’s Web browsing history and is still available on YouTube.

You can watch the ad below (if you dare).