Microsoft Gulf today announced that Mashreq, one of the leading financial institutions in the region is promoting Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8) in its effort to help customers protect their personal information online against growing cyber threats and phishing schemes. Mashreq website (www.mashreqbank.com) has a monthly average of 798, 000 unique visitors generating just about 1.4 million page views per month.
According to a recent security report commissioned by Microsoft, cybercrime is increasing and becoming more sophisticated with financial gain as the key motivator. IE 8's enhanced security features with 24x7 support gives users better control and helps prevent fraudulent activities online.
Gavin Sanderson, Head of Distribution, Mashreq said, "Mashreq always seeks ways to optimize the online banking experience of its customers, both through its rich functionality and variety of services available and education on internet privacy and security. We want our customers to feel safer when banking online and be more aware of the measures they should adopt to protect their personal information. Internet Explorer 8 is specifically designed to help users maintain their internet security and privacy. Coupled with built-in features that provide better manageability and support, customers can now have a browsing platform that gives the confidence to have a more convenient, safe and secure online experience anywhere and at any time."
With the adoption of Microsoft's latest browser IE 8, Mashreq website visitors will be able to browse the internet more safely and securely. With the help of robust new features from IE 8 such as SmartScreen filter and InPrivate Browsing, Mashreq website visitors are encouraged to have much safer online experience. Web Slices help Mashreq's line-of-business applications interface more easily with their customers. InPrivate Browsing helps protect users from the unintentional disclosure of information or browsing session by providing a quick, easy way to ensure that information is cleared as soon as the InPrivate Browsing session is closed.
Ramez Dandan, Platform Strategy Manager, Microsoft Gulf added, "One of the biggest concerns for businesses in the financial space is the issue of security and privacy when their customers access online banking. Increasingly, sophisticated phishing and malware exploits are tricking users through social engineering to download malware payloads or reveal passwords and other confidential information. Internet Explorer 8 has more tools and resources to defend customers against cyber threats everyday than any other browser. It is specifically designed to help users maintain their security and privacy. It enables users to browse more safely helping them maintain trust in the Internet. We support Mashreq's commitment in providing its customers with an enhanced and secure online experience."
IE 8 takes a big step forward in browser innovation and enhances customers' online confidence by providing an increased ability to control and protect their data. Internet Explorer 8 delivers an end-to-end approach to security and privacy that is focused on social engineering, new defenses against Web server attacks and additional improvements to defend browser-based exploits.
IE 8 has blocked more than 350 million attempts since it was released in March 2009. In a study by NSS Labs, Internet Explorer 8 delivered the best protection for phishing and malware compared to other modern browsers.
