Internet Explorer 6.0 Security

Microsoft® Internet Explorer supports Kerberos, Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) versions 2.0 and 3.0, and Server Gated Crypto (SGC) security protocols. These protocols are available through WinInet or directly from Winsock. In addition, WinInet provides server and proxy authentication for HTTP sessions and client-side use of the Passport Authentication Protocol. For more information, see WinInet Security.

Best Practices

Create safe ActiveX controls

Internet Explorer for Microsoft Windows® CE does not support downloading of Microsoft ActiveX® controls, however there is still the possibility that any ActiveX controls that are already installed on the device can be misused, either intentionally or unintentionally. Any ActiveX control that is part of your web application must implement IObjectSafety and, whenever possible, limit the context in which the ActiveX control can be run. For information about creating more secure ActiveX controls, and safe initialization of controls, see Developing Secure ActiveX Controls.

Use authentication

If your platform supports NTLM or Kerberos authentication, use one of these mechanisms to help limit access to known users.

Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

SSL protocol helps to protect data from packet sniffing by anyone with physical access to the network. For more information, see SSL Support.

Use URL Security Zones

Applications that host a web browser control can manage the default URL Security Zone settings by implementing the IInternetZoneManager interface. Keep in mind, however, that any changes made using IInternetZoneManager will not be static because the user can override them. For more information see URL Security Zones.

Default Registry Settings

Some of the registry settings for URL Monikers may have security implications. The registry settings documentation contains Security Note entries with information about security issues.

For information on default registry settings see Internet Explorer 6.0 Registry Settings.

Ports

The following table shows the ports that Internet Explorer uses by default. A user can also specify a port in a URL, using the format <protocol>://<host>:<port-number>[<path>]. If the specified port is available at the server, it will be used in place of the default.

See Also

Internet Explorer 6.0

 Last updated on Thursday, April 08, 2004

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