Make your Firefox browser even more secure with just changing a few settings. Awhile back, I wrote an article on tweaking some settings for your Firefox browser, since then Firefox has evolved some with new versions, so another updated article is needed.
Here are some of the settings that you should consider changing to make your Firefox browser installation a bit more secure.
about:config
The first time you type “about:config” into the browser-bar, you will see a warning telling you to be careful. Admittedly, you can do a lot of powerful things, so the warning is appropriate. Just remember the things you do so you can undo them if it becomes needed.
Here are some of the settings that you may want to consider changing. I will go over what they are briefly, so you can make up your own mind on them.
To change the settings in about:config — just double-click on the entry and change the value.
browser.startup.homepage
By default, Firefox displays a Google search bar as the home page. Google, Yahoo, and many other search engines collect a great deal of information about you and your browsing habits and sell the information to data brokers.
Being a very private individual, I don’t want that. If you want to start on a different page, then you should run this command and enter a website of your choice.
Set the value of “browser.startup.homepage“: To a website of your choice.
browser.privatebrowsing.autostart
When you set Firefox to private browsing, it makes it so no third party can access cookies or any records or history of websites you have been browsing. This does not give you invisability, your computer, your ISP and others can still see where you are going. It is just a layer of protection.
Set the value of “browser.privatebrowsing.autostart” : to TRUE.
browser.safebrowsing.phishing.enabled
This extension prevents phishing and ensures that websites you visit get scanned through a Google blacklist. Thus, if a website has been blacklisted in Google’s database, it will not be allowed to load on your browser. Google is notified when this scan is used and tracking is initiated.
Set the value of “browser.safebrowsing.phishing.enabled” : to FALSE.
browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled
Google licenses this fishing protection algorithms to Mozilla to help its users to be safer when they surf the web. But, tracking is an issue.
Set the value of “browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled” : to FALSE.
geo.enabled
Location Awareness is a technique websites use to know your location and customize your user experience (Language, custom content, etc.). This also gives your IP address (which is best avoided).
Set the value of “geo.enabled” : to FALSE.
geo.wifi.uri
As with “geo.enabled”, you don’t want information about your Wi-Fi to leak information about where you are, you will want to disable this setting.
Set the value of “geo.wifi.uri” : to FALSE or you can alternately set it to: 127.0.0.1.
media.peerconnection.enabled
Web Real-Time Communication WebRTC is good for video conferencing and file transfers, but like many technologies it is a double-edged sword. It can reveal your true IP address, even if you are true using a VPN. For this reason, it is best to turn it off.
Set the value of “media.peerconnection.enabled” : to FALSE
Summing it all up!
Firefox is a very good browser and “out of the box” it is fairly secure. These are just come of the settings that you can modify to make Firefox more private. Privacy and security are a constant battle in today’s invasive society. Take time to review your browser settings to stay safe and keep your privacy.
For more information:
- Mozilla Wiki – Other privacy settings to consider.
- Ghacks – Some other settings to look at.