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Budd:e

With the new school year upon us, it’s a great time for kids, teachers and families to learn about the simple steps we can take to stay safe and secure online

Factsheet 6 - Securing Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 web browser

Download Securing Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 web browser (PDF, 334 KB)

Download Securing Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 web browser (Word, 399 KB)

Often, security and functionality are at opposing ends of a sliding scale in web browsers. The more functionality you allow, the greater the risk the security of your computer being compromised.

Always ensure that the brand of web browser you choose to use (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari) is the newest available, as the newer versions are the most secure. However, Beta versions of software are pre-release versions and should be avoided as these have not been fully tested under all circumstances and are more likely to affect software stability or contain security bugs.

This article describes the settings needed to secure Internet Explorer version 7, which has been superseded by version 8. Similar options may be available in earlier versions of Internet Explorer. It is recommended to upgrade to the most current version (currently Internet Explorer 8).

The settings should be enabled for each account on the computer (whether an administrator or limited user account) as the settings only take effect on the account from which they were set.

This means that each user has the ability to control the browser’s security settings. However, if one user downgrades their web browser’s security settings it could compromise the security of the entire computer.

  1. Click the start button in the lower left corner of your screen. The button looks like the following image:
    Start
  2. Single click on the icon labelled control panel.
     Control-Panel
  3. Select the security center icon.
    Security-Centre 
  4. Click on the internet options icon.
    Internet-Options
  5. Navigate to the security tab.
  6. Click the button labelled reset all zones to default level.
  7. Select the local intranet zone and move the slider up to medium level. The levels of the zones should now reflect the table below:

    Zone

    Level

    Internet

    Medium-High

    Intranet

    Medium

    Trusted

    Medium

  8. Select the privacy tab. Select the settings level of medium-high. Also ensure that the ‘turn on pop-up blocker’ is enabled.
  9. Now select the advanced tab. scroll down the list until you get to the security section.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx