Firefox is the online researcher’s best friend. No other browser gives so much control to the user as Firefox. It is more customizable than either Google Chrome or Internet Explorer.
Like any browser, you must be aware of what data you are releasing when you visit a Web site. The following add-ons help eliminate two serious security threats that occur when doing Investigative Internet Research (IIR).
BetterPrivacy—This add-on is pretty basic, but a must have. BetterPrivacy deletes flash cookies (LSOs/SuperCookies).
KeyScrambler—Check out Alex Long’s post from Null Byte for information about what KeyScrambler is and how it works.
I have already written about:
- NoScript— NoScript allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from trusted domains of your choice, e.g. your home-banking web site, and guards the “trust boundaries” against cross-site scripting attacks (XSS). Such a preemptive approach prevents exploitation of security vulnerabilities (known and even unknown!). This is a must-have for IIR.
- HTTPS Everywhere—This is a must-have add-on provided by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. HTTPS Everywhere enables a secure connection on pages that have SSLCertificates. For example, when you use Google search most people use the unencrypted version. This add-on will force Google to deploy its SSL certificate. The DuckDuckGo (DDG) search engine also uses a version of this.
I can advise – WOT (web of trust), McAfee SiteAdvisor
I also like RefControl for controlling my HTTP referrals to sites: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/refcontrol/