How to Set Up Internet Security Features Using Internet Explorer

To give you a more secure Internet experience, Internet Explorer provides security options that work to prevent unauthorized users on the Internet from obtaining access to your personal information. These Internet security options will help protect while shopping online and help keep unwanted and unsafe software downloads from getting onto your computer while browsing the Internet.

Internet Explorer divides its Internet security into different zones. The zones include: Internet, Local intranet, Trusted Sites, and Restricted Sites. All websites are placed in the Internet zone by default. When a website is accessed by your computer, Internet Explorer checks to see which zone it is in to determine if the site can be displayed. If you assign a website to the Restricted zone then access to the website will be denied. Trusted sites will be displayed with no check. And, Internet sites will also be displayed with no problem, though a dialog box may pop-up if the site is requesting information.

To access the Internet security options in Internet Explorer click on the "Tools" menu in Internet Explorer and select "Options". From here click on the "Security" tab. You can now click on the different zone icons and adjust the security settings assigned to each zone. Use the slider to adjust the security level for each zone. You can also add sites to the different zones by selecting the zone and then clicking the "Sites" button. Here you can view a list of websites currently in the zone and add or remove sites as you wish. Click "OK" to save you adjustments.

Another way to increase your level of security while using the Internet is to control the content that can be accessed by your computer. You can set your computer not to display any websites with content that you believe to be inappropriate. To do this you can use Internet Explorer's Content Advisor feature.

To access the Content Advisor click on the "Content" tab in the "Internet Options" window. Here you can adjust the rating level for several criteria for websites that your computer is allowed to access. The criteria include languages, nudity, sex and violence. Select the criteria you wish to adjust the rating for and use the slider to increase or decrease the rating allowed for your computer. You can also manually add approved sites by using the "Approved Sties" tab in case your ratings are blocking a particular site you do want to access. Click "OK" to save your modifications.

Setting your own Internet security options will keep you and your family safer while online. Whether you are worried about secure online shopping or keeping inoffensive websites off of your computer, Internet Explorer can be used to set the security features you want.