IE8's 'porn mode' busted

The private browsing function in Microsoft's IE8, currently a beta release, can be cracked to reveal concealed information, according to a Dutch website.

Watch Web User's video tour of IE8 Beta 2.

The InPrivate Browsing feature has been nicknamed 'porn mode' because of its ability to hide a surfer's browsing history.

But according to the website Webwereld.nl, forensic experts in Holland found it easy to retrieve browsing history after testing the InPrivate function.

Christian Prickaerts, a forensic IT expert with Dutch security firm Fox IT, said that forensic experts would find it "peanuts" to retrieve browsing history data.

Microsoft claims that, when surfing in private browsing mode, IE8 does not store any information about your history, searches or cookies.

Although researchers were not able to retrieve specific URLs, they were still able to restore the browsing history and deduce which websites were visited.

While many surfers would not have the technical expertise to retrieve web history, the finding from the Dutch researchers dents Microsoft's claim that you can keep your browsing history private.

In Firefox 2.0 and 3.0 surfers can delete their browsing history but this too can be retrieved using forensic tools, which puts IE8 closer to the open-source browser.

Read Web User's initial impressions of IE8 Beta 2.

IE8 Beta 2 download: www.microsoft.com/ie8