Privacy Mode

As Microsoft’s much anticipated Internet Explorer 8 was launched, many people looked forward to the Privacy Mode, called the InPrivateBrowsing. Although people are excited about this all encompassing privacy technology, it may not be everything it seems. According to PCAdvisor, the privacy mode doesn’t really do much at all in terms of protecting. Although all of the security locks and other advisory warning are pretty to look at, they are not pragmatic at well and the information can easily be retrieved.

The premise of InPrivateBrowsing is that it deletes surfing history, cookies, and other things that can tell where you were, what you were doing, and even the amount of time on a site! While this all sounds good, it appears to be a superficial facade; all of the information was easily retrieved by forensic experts. Their major selling point is that cookies are not stored; these show log-in names, passwords, and definitive proof that you visited and lingered on a particular site. It also doesn’t allow Internet browser history to be stored either.

The major downfall of InPrivateBrowsing is in their incessant chronicling of cache files. The programs on the Internet use these to store websites so that can be accessed more quickly later, and the websites will even load faster. Anyone even with the most rudimentary knowledge of the Internet can see where this would create a privacy problem. Although a user can go deep into the software and actually delete these files themselves, most people wouldn’t bother to learn how, or don’t know of this, and therefore, security is completely compromised just by one little aspect.

Although they have good intentions, don’t be fooled by the glossy exterior. The bottom line is, even if cookies, browsing history, and everything else is deleted, if one thing is left out, it’ll be the death of the project. The program is still in its infancy though, and changes can still be made. A program and company as big as Microsoft is sure to look at the feedback and realize and re-test. The great thing about products online is that if there is an error, all they have to do is design a patch and everything will be fixed up by a simple download.

In the mean time though, don’t trust it with your online security. Internet crime rises every year in correspondence with the amount of Internet travelers, and as more travelers become more protected, hackers prey on the ones still living in the dark ages of a simple firewall or a rudimentary virus scanner. If you are currently using InPrivateBrowsing, don’t wait for a patch to get protected. Use an anonymous proxy server and get your secure tunnel of access for which to travel safely and securely through.