Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration

The Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration (IE ESC) is designed to reduce the risks related to Web browsing performed on a server; it is enabled by default. Ideally, you should not be surfing the Web on a server, but sometimes it is convenient to jump onto the Web to look for something, and there is always a risk you will be redirected to a site with malware that on a desktop is a pain but on a server could be devastating.

For this protection, IE ESC restricts the content that web sites can display and utilize. For example, for Internet web sites, Microsoft ActiveX controls, Microsoft VM for HTML content, and file downloads are all disabled, and this is based on the Internet Explorer Security zones. Internet sites are set to a High security level, whereas for sites on the local intranet, the security level is set to Medium-low. The automatic detection of intranet sites is disabled by default, which means your credentials are not passed through automatically, so you are prompted for credentials until you manually add an intranet site to the Local intranet zone.


Other settings, including the following, are made when IE ESC is enabled:

■ The enhanced security configuration dialog is displayed when a site tries to use blocked content, such as scripting or ActiveX controls.

■ Browser extensions are disabled.

■ On-demand installation of Internet Explorer components is disabled.

■ Playing of media content in the Internet Explorer media bar is disabled.

■ Music, sounds, animations, and videos are disabled in Web pages.

■ Revocation of certificates used by web sites is enabled.

■ Signatures are checked for downloaded programs.

■ Encrypted pages cannot be saved to the temporary Internet files folder.

■ A warning is issued when you move from a secure to non-secure site.

■ The Web files cache is emptied when Internet Explorer is closed.

■ Windows Updates is added to the Trusted Sites zone, allowing updates to be applied seamlessly, as is the Windows error reporting site, which allows problems to be reported.