Microsoft says Vista, IE7 defenses can overcome poor code

Internet Explorer (IE) 7, when running on Windows Vista, contains a capability that should fight off most attacks trying to exploit the severe browser vulnerability that was patched this week by Microsoft, the software company said Thursday night.

In Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, IE7 runs in "Protected Mode," meaning the browser operates with restrictive privileges, Michael Howard, a senior security program manager at Microsoft, wrote Thursday on the company's Security Development Lifecycle blog.

In other words, the browser withholds rights for unknown sources to silently install programs or modify data. "Protected Mode significantly reduces the ability of an attacker to write, alter or destroy data on the user's machine or to install malicious code," according to Microsoft's Internet Explorer Developer Center website.