If the browser has failed in the crash test, then you must eliminate the loopholes immediately. The problem here is that there is no ultimate super tip that will immediately block out all hackers. How you secure your browser depends on your surfing behavior. If you like to visit photo sites such as Flickr, you can hardly block the display of JPEGs-even if these possibly contain harmful code. The following strategies will help you.

Using a Limited Account: Set up an account with limited rights through 'Start I Control Panel I User accounts' in Windows and use this limited account only for surfing. If malware gets into your hard disk, it will not be able to execute its code there as it doesn't have the required rights.

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Block Scripting Languages: Beware of ActiveX and JavaScript, since most malware is programmed in these languages. You can deactivate these scripting languages in the security settings of the browser. In Firefox, you can do this through 'Tools I Options I Content' and in Internet Explorer through 'Tools I Internet Options I Advanced'.

In Opera, select 'Tools I Settings I Advanced'. Set reliable sites that use scripts as exceptions-for instance, almost all online virus scanners also use this type of scripting. All browsers let you define a list of exceptions, for instance, in Firefox, you can specify the sites that can continue to use scripts.

Monitor the Hard Disk: A virus scanner should always run in the background while you are surfing. In addition, you can also install ThreatFire from PCTools, which is ideal for tracking down malware. It continuously monitors all files and folders for suspicious activity. The tool sounds an alarm if malware changes the access rights or attributes of a file. But beware! Even Windows has to occasionally change time stamps and other things in files. Therefore, don't panic if the alarm goes off, and first check whether it has really been triggered due to some threat.