Firefox Security and Privacy Extensions
In the last few years Firefox gained a massive support from surfers worldwide. This is mainly because Internet Explorer, still the biggest player on the market, has proved to be hopelessly insecure.
Besides offering more security than IE by default, what users appreciate is the fact that Firefox can be expanded with add-ons that offer a variety of functions not integrated in the browser upon install. This article will explore useful security and privacy extensions that will add to your browsing experience.
Spamavert
This add-on takes disposable e-mail addresses to another level. Instead of creating a disposable e-mail address and get messages to an e-mail address you usually use, you get a spamavert.com address and check e-mail on that website, simply by visiting an URL. As you use different addresses, Spamavert creates a list of them that you can just click to visit.
It’s very simple to use, you just right-click on a form and this add-on creates an address automatically for you, it opens a new window and that’s where your e-mail arrives. It’s ideal for all websites that require you to register.
Here’s an example of how it works:
ShowIP
ShowIP integrates into the Firefox status bar and it shows you the IP address of the current page which you can copy to the clipboard. You can also query custom services by IP (right mouse button) and hostname (left mouse button).
You’ll get a feel of how simple it is to work with this add-on in the following video:
Greasemonkey
Greasemonkey is one of the most popular Firefox extensions. It allows you to customize how websites look and, more importantly, function. There’s a myriad of scripts already available for download and if you’re into javascript, you can also write your own. Naturally, there are Greasemonkey security and privacy related scripts that you can use, and you can download some of them at Userscripts.org and by searching Google.
The one script I use daily has been released at Black Hat USA 2006 and its name is Monkeyspaw: The Greasemonkey Security Professional’s Automated Webthinger. Features include: IP Query, DNS Lookup, Server Info, Report, full logging of actions via Javascript Console “message” level alerts, and more.
