Nailing Down Browser Security
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
Back in the 1960s, there was a fad with a ball made of synthetic rubber that would bounce back very efficiently. Throw it in the living room, it bounces a lot, maybe breaks your mother's favorite lamp, makes the cat hide behind the couch, scuffs the walls, and so on. My articles on browsers and security have been bouncing around. The first one is here, then a few more, and something a bit tangential is over at "How to Conduct Insufficient Research". Now I bounced over to this weblog again.
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| Credit: Pexels / energepic.com |
From what I gather, on browsers were out-of-the-box and without extensions. What about those extensions? There are many available, and can be a security risk. However, some are rated very highly as essentials for privacy concerns. While some people get angry at those of us who use ad-blocking extensions (some browsers have these built right in), ads are also a privacy concern as well as slowing down browsers and fouling up bandwidth. I have uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, and a couple of others. Sometimes they must be switched off to view a site that says, "Nein! Streng verboten!" to ad blockers. Or users can find something else to view.
Something else that I said before needs repeating: incognito/privacy mode on browsers does not protect you from prying eyes. Utilizing that mode to search for something, do shopping, look at something nasty — the user is still visible to the ISP and such. Close out the privacy mode, and it was like you were never there as far as your computer is concerned. Other people at home, the workplace, and so on can't hop into your chair and see where you went. I recently came across a helpful video by Liron Segev that explains this and is embedded below. He provides a variety of interesting and useful videos on his channel.
"What about virtual privacy networks and proxies, Cowboy Bob?"
Like reading privacy browser reviews, VPNs are also like the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Some have even said they are useless, others insist it's foolish to go without. Some are free extensions, but seem unreliable.
The Opera browser has some built in that can be activated, but have not been rated as all that secure. Brave has an option to switch to an incognito mode that has Tor Onion capabilities to enhance privacy. Epic privacy browser has an interesting twist on things: adblocker, permanent incognito, and optional encrypted proxy. It appears to be the most secure browser, but it breaks things (some sites will not load). Log in to your Google account, check your banking information, anything else, and when you close it out, it is like those things never happened.
Remember, things change quickly. I had to revise my article on browsers, especially regarding Vivaldi because it became better. My recommendation is that anyone looking for reviews should look at the most recent and not those from five years ago. The same probably applies to VPN reviews.
Something else to keep in mind is that privacy is not just a matter of using the best browser. Have up-to-date and reliable anti-virus, anti-malware software, and I recommend installing software that cleans your tracks, spyware, temporary files, and so on. The user is very important to online safety, so practice safe computing and learn when to say "no". I reckon that such things are not factored into browser tests.
The best way to keep online privacy is to never go online — nearly impossible in today's world. I don't want to sound like I believe nonsense of postmodern philosophies, but I'm inclined to use a phrase: seek your own truth. In this case, decide what's best for you and strike a balance between browsers, extensions, and so on. Use whatever you like, and as many as needed.
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