Ensuring browsing safety is one of the major concerns of equally users and browser developers these days. And it’s understandable because let’s face it – a lot of people practically live online. We buy and sell stuff online, we do online banking, we socialize online, and we even get online degrees. With all that going on it’s a must to protect yourself. Firefox is a very good browser from security point of view because of it’s useful extensions. Here’s a list of top 5 Firefox security add-ons:
1. NoScript
In my opinion, NoScript is one of the best security add-ons out there. It lets you specify which websites are allowed to run active content, like Javascript, Java code and other executable codes, thus protecting you from cross-site scripting attacks (XSS) and Clickjacking attacks. There was an Adblock Plus issue, but the developers fixed it and apologized.
2. Adblock Plus
Adblock Plus is the most popular Firefox security add-on with more than 730 thousand weekly downloads. What it does is very simple and very useful – it blocks ads and banners. All you need to do is right-click on a banner and choose “Adblock” from the context menu – the banner won’t be downloaded again. You can also replace parts of the banner address with star symbols and block similar banners.
3. WOT
WOT (Web of Trust) warns about sites that try to scam you, infect your computer with malware, or deliver spam. WOT’s colour-coded icons show you ratings for 21 million websites – safe green, suspicious yellow, and dangerous red. WOT reputation rating combines four components: trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy, and child safety.
4. BetterPrivacy
BetterPrivacy protects against undeletable long-term cookies, a new generation of so-called ‘Super-Cookies’, that have invaded the Internet. It also blocks long-term tracking from Google, YouTube, Ebay, and other sites.
5. Stealther
If you want to surf the Web without leaving a single trace on your computer, then Stealther is the add-on for you. With it you can temporarily disable browsing history (in the address bar as well), cookies, downloaded files history, disk cache, saved forms info, sending of ReferrerHeader, and recently closed tabs list. All those don’t get wiped for good, so you can get them back whenever you need them in one simple click.
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Don’t use noscript. They recently tried releasing a version that disabled certain parts of adblock plus. Real shady behavior!
@Brian I know, but they fixed it and apologized.
[...] admin added an interesting post on Top 5 Firefox Security Add-ons « Auslogics BlogHere’s a small excerptWe buy and sell stuff online, we do online banking, we socialize online, and we even get online degrees. With all that going on it’s a must to protect yourself. Firefox is a very good browser from security point of view because of it’s … [...]
[...] The Cardboard Connection added an interesting post today on Top 5 Firefox Security Add-onsHere’s a small reading…lot of people practically live online. We buy and sell stuff online, we do online banking, we socialize online, and we even get online degrees. [...]
I can’t stand NoScript. If breaks almost every site I want to view, and continually saying ‘let this one script’ is a pain in the neck. If it had a reputation system so that, say, news.bbc.co.uk was whitelisted it would be better.
I like 4 of the 5 tools listed here. Not wanting to start a flame war, I just want to say that the use of Ad Blockers is not necessarily a good thing. We all like FREE sites, FREE downloads, FREE message boards, FREE etc. Someone has to pay for the site operations. I manage a couple of sites, for friends, that generate enough ad revenue to pay for themselves. Without it they couldn’t afford to run them. Ad blockers rob site owners of the revenue. If you don;t want to pay $9.95 for every web site you visit, let the ads show, you don’t have to read them.
AdBlock Plus (EasyList/EasyPrivacy). Toolbar Buttons (to toggle JS and Flash). RequestPolicy(CSR control).
Sorted!
Why would you think that any add-on by some third-party is secure? To me its the weakest link.
@random_guy If you don’t like third-party stuff better stick to Microsoft products.
I HIGHLY recommend using no-script to everyone. for every site You go to it blocks all scripts , all You need to do is allow trusted sites once and it wont ask you about it again. You can also put advertising scrips in an untrusted list. Takes a bit of effort but it will save ALLOT of headache in the long run.
@theoldfellow
That’s what the blacklist mode is for. It will allow everything except what you explicity deny. All you have to do to enable it is allow scripts globally, then mark the ones you don’t want as untrusted.
@random_guy
That’s like saying “why wear armor to protect yourself when the armor could break and injure you”
Obviously I also recommend noscript. Every computer I use has it installed!
With so many websites using javascript, the need to redefine the NoScript user experience is clearly due. Several webmail systems I use only function via javascript. That got old real quick, and NoScript lost the battle.
On the same tone as AdblockPlus is Flashblock. Install Flashblock, every flash element is replaced with a small icon which you can click to manually load the Flash, or you can right click and whitelist the site. Amazing how so many websites misuse flash to the extent that nothing useful is missed when their flash content is blocked.
Adblock plus is neat. I also like Billeo. It’s a free add-on that manages passwords, saves receipts and auto fills forms. No security issues as the tool is VeriSign secured and TRUSTe certified.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12715