Understanding IE Security Zones

Q: Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) Security Zones are a powerful browser security feature. However, configuring Security Zones is complex and often users lack the knowledge to configure them correctly. A crucial part of understanding IE Security Zones is knowing how IE classifies Web site URLs (i.e., understanding why IE adds a URL to a particular Security Zone). Can you explain how IE Security Zone classification works and offer some guidance on how to configure it?

A: The IE security settings that are applied to a Web site depend on a Web site's Security Zone classification. This dependence explains the importance of understanding how IE uniquely identifies Web sites.

In a security zone, a Web site is identified using its HTTP or FTP URL. You can manually add sites to all Security Zones except the Internet and Local Computer zones. Remember that a site is automatically added to the Internet zone when it doesn't match any of the other Security Zones; the Local Computer zone applies to all content stored on local machine drives. To add a Web site to a Security Zone, select the appropriate Security Zone in the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box, then click the Sites… button as Figure 1 shows). . . .