Internet Explorer 8 beat its rivals in a study sponsored by Microsoft into how effective they were in blocking access to malware sites.  The ranking were IE8 RC1  blocked 69%,  Firefox 30%, Apple’s Safari 24%, and Chrome 16%, Opera 5% and IE 7 4%.

The results are being received with some degree of scepticism in the industry, though the company who carried out the test have a very solid reputation.  It was carried out against “socially engineered” malware, that is, sites which try to persuade visitors to download malware code.