Security in Firefox Browser
When working on the Internet, the highest priority should be to ensure the safety of users. Indeed, in the “global web” there is a huge number of fraudulent sites and simply dishonest personalities. To protect their users, Mozilla developers put a huge amount of effort. They came out and went out well, but they did the most important thing – they gave a start to their users. Simple and intuitive add-ons (plug-in) began to appear quite quickly. It is about such plugins that will be discussed in this article.
Written both by craftsmen and professional programmers, these plugins perform one, but very important function – to warn the user about the danger that awaits him. They work quite simply, in fact in two stages. The first step is to track complaints or recommendations of a particular site and by comparing their number we get a positive or negative reaction to the site. Some programs simply suggest that the site is dangerous, others allow you to see why, but they are based on the same algorithm – collecting and displaying information.
Most Popular and Effective Plugins for Firefox
McAfee Site Advisor
The simplest in appearance program that provides monitoring of the degree of risk of certain sites or links. It works according to a large number of parameters: the presence of hidden links, pop-ups, content, hidden program code. Based on these parameters, the site is assigned one of three types of security. Moving to such a site in the add-in itself, we can see one of the following icons: red – the site is unsafe, it is better to leave it soon; yellow – the site for some reason does not comply with McAfee policy (as, for example, our site due to the presence of anonymizer that allows you to bypass McAfee’s prohibitions and filters); green – the site is absolutely safe, you can work; white – the site is not yet known to developers. McAfee Site Advisor operates in Internet Explorer (only OS Windows) and Mozilla Firefox (OS Windows and Mac).
Web of trust
Very similar to the previous plugin, but the most popular in the world today. It has nearly 23 million downloads and about 35 million verified sites. It makes a comprehensive assessment of the site and allows for a variety of criteria to make a specific verdict, and if the user wants to see what this verdict is due to.
For example, WoT provides verification of the presence of “adult content”, the presence of certain security risks, the presence of veiled links to other sites, hidden program code, pop-ups, incorrect links. The site’s rating is given in the same form as that of McAfee Site Advisor, with the only difference being that we can expand the plug-in window and see by what parameters it is considered unsafe.
A positive feature of this plugin is its multi-platform. It can be installed on almost all existing and on all popular web browsers on any of the listed OS – Windows, Mac, Linux.
WebMoney Advisor
Created for users of the WebMoney community and the main task is the security of transactions through a website. It was originally created for Firefox under Windows OS, but over time it spread to Mac OS, as well as to all popular web browsers. Its main characteristic is an open user rating. Everyone can put their mark “+” or “-” to any site, leave a comment. Other users entering this site will see the ratio of positive and negative ratings, will be able to read reviews and form their opinion on the safety of the site.
The disadvantage is the lack of warning functions about “adult content” and the insecurity of normal work with the site.
Link extension
A plugin that has a couple of beneficial differences from the previous ones. Despite the fact that it was written only for working in the Windows OS environment, or rather the Firefox client for Windows, it is an excellent thing. The developers have compensated for the lack of universality of application on different operating systems with a number of additional features. LE not only displays the site rating (which is created by setting the site to “+” or “-” by visitors), but also displays additional information about the site.
Such information is: warning about spam, warning about pop-ups, warning about attacks on users and existing security risks. All this information is collected and analyzed, and also lovingly stored on the plug-in server or on the user’s hard drive.
Link Extend however does not provide reasoning for the estimates, which calls into question their reliability. However, this is offset by additional information that allows you to quickly understand how safe (or vice versa dangerous) the site is.
LE is the most powerful of all plugins because it uses a combination of their functions.
