Firefox Security

Discussion of general topics about Mozilla Firefox
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wirefox
Posts: 74
Joined: November 29th, 2002, 12:51 pm
Location: Canada

Firefox Security

Post by wirefox »

Lots of talk about Firefox vs Chrome security lately, I never had a problem with either one but would like your opinions on FFox. I use a malware program Zemana which is always on and Norton Security. Share your opinions,concerns and recommendations please
THE STONES
Brummelchen
Posts: 4480
Joined: March 19th, 2005, 10:51 am

Re: Firefox Security

Post by Brummelchen »

Windows 10 and Norton? Good luck when getting issues, norton is one of most known issuer. stick with windows defender which is one of the top most.
zemana? never ever this, sorry.

there is no significant difference between firefox or chrome. in special "chrome" ist a closed source because google "refines" the chromium/blink code, theefore i sue chromium and not chrome beside firefox. in fact i would trust more firefox than blink. i also use firefox (fennec) on android.

people often change prefs in firefox to reduce "telemetrie" or other ANONYMOUS data, in fact they lower security.
let firefox most untouched but add eg ublock or similar. that also reduced time when searching on issues.
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tanstaafl
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Joined: July 30th, 2003, 5:06 pm

Re: Firefox Security

Post by tanstaafl »

Zemana seems to be a good but light weight, less powerful alternative to MalwareBytes Anti-malware. Mainly a question of personal preference. I recommend against using any Norton or Symantec software - too troublesome.

Personally, I use the free versions of MalwareBytes AntiMalware, SuperAntiSpyware, and BitDefender (antivirus). I've been reluctant to use Windows Defender as it has a reputation for many false alarms. It has good recent ratings for malware detection at AV-Test (doesn't seem to be tested at AV-comparatives) but it has a long history of doing a poor job detecting malware compared to MalwareBytes in Microsoft's forums, and magazines such as PCmag (November 29, 2018) say things like "Windows Defender has been getting better scores from the independent labs, and in our own tests, but the best third-party antivirus products, both free and premium, score way higher." So I'm sticking with free third party software.

Sometimes its a question of what is compatible with your other software. I've had good luck with the Emisoft emergency kit but Emisoft Anti-Malware Home caused my PC to thrash.

I don't see a significant difference security wise between Firefox and Chrome. Most security extensions seem to be available for both. What settings you tweak and what extensions you use seem to matter more. Mozilla used to be a lot more trustworthy but nowadays you need to be wary of both companies.

https://www.privacytools.io has a good section on privacy related settings to tweak for Firefox but many of them cause problems with Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.

I use both browsers, and rely upon privacy badger and ublock origin (plus a cookie management add-on). I'm evaluating the Trace - Online Tracking Protection and Decentraleyes add-ons. I found NoScript and uMatrix powerful but not worth the hassle. There are a lot of privacy & security add-ons available but I am wary of having to trust many authors since in general an add-on has full access to everything the browser does, and both Mozilla Add-ons and Chrome Web Store slip up too often .
Brummelchen
Posts: 4480
Joined: March 19th, 2005, 10:51 am

Re: Firefox Security

Post by Brummelchen »

https://www.privacytools.io [...] but many of them cause problems
most of users even dont understand those settings, me included. such settings would firefox lock down.
i use some settings but not from that site, i do by recommendation from here or camp-firefox. only with a full backup of profile.
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