10 add-ons for Firefox: Privacy and security
For all of you Firefox users out there, here is a list of handy plug-ins and add-ons that will help you anonymize your Web presence, protect you from loss of passwords, assorted attacks, cookies, malicious websites and angry bosses/spouses when you’re surfing somewhere you shouldn’t.
1. BetterPrivacy
Protects against Flash cookies. This add-on was made to make users aware of those hidden, never expiring objects and to offer an easy way to get rid of them – since browsers are unable to do that for you. With BetterPrivacy it is possible to review, protect or delete new Flash-cookies individually. Users who wish to to manage all cookies manually can disable the automatic functions. BetterPrivacy also protects against ‘DOM Storage’ longterm tracking, a browser feature which has been granted by the major browser manufactures.
2. Secure Login
Secure Login is a login extension for Mozilla Firefox integrated password manager.
Its main feature is similar to Opera’s Wand login. Prevents malicious JavaScript code to automatically steal your login data and can prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks to steal your passwords without having to deactivate JavaScript.
3. NoScript
Winner of the “2006 PC World World Class Award”, this tool allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from trusted domains of your choice, e.g. your home-banking web site, guarding your “trust boundaries” against cross-site scripting attacks (XSS) and Clickjacking attempts, thanks to its ClearClick technology.
4. WOT
WOT, Web of Trust, warns you about risky websites that try to scam visitors, deliver malware or send spam. Use WOT as your front-line layer of protection when browsing or searching in unfamiliar territory. WOT’s color-coded icons show you ratings for 21 million websites – green to go, yellow for caution and red to stop – helping you avoid the dangerous sites.
5. TabRenamizer
If you’re worried about someone looking over your shoulder and seeing the pages your surfing on, TabRenamizer changes the titles of your tabs to random ones with a simple click. Select a new title for a tab, writing it or replacing a substring of the original title into another text.
6. CryptFire
Encrypt and decrypt any selected text with a password using the secure AES algorithm. Encrypt texts as short links, or hide messages in seemingly random text.
7. SquiggleSR
SquiggleSR generates personalized queries to deceive search engines and protect user’s privacy. Keywords extracted from RSS flows and search engine statistics are used to create coherent and news related queries. Clicks are randomly simulated on non-sponsored results.
8. CS Lite
This extension will allow you to easily control cookie permissions. Just click on the icon to allow, block, or temporarily allow the site to set cookies. You can also view, clear or edit the cookies and exceptions by right clicking on the cs lite icon. For safer browsing you may choose to deny cookies globally and then enable them on a per site basis. You can also download a blocklist that contains a list of untrusted hosts that you may choose to import into FF and block.
9. FoxyProxy
FoxyProxy is a proxy management tool that completely replaces Firefox’s limited proxying capabilities and automatically switches an internet connection across one or more proxy servers based on URL patterns. Put simply, FoxyProxy automates the manual process of editing Firefox’s Connection Settings dialog. Proxy server switching occurs based on the loading URL and the switching rules you define.
10. Mass Password Reset
Sometimes you change a central password that ends up changing 12 others. This add on helps you reset multiple passwords in the Firefox/Thunderbird password manager. Once installed, this adds a Tools submenu that lets you search for passwords based on domain, username, or existing password, and then reset them to a new password as a group.
