CFA/Security-Notes

« Comparative Feature Analyses
« Security Research

Purpose

Examine a bunch of browsers, existing Firefox Add-ons, and web services to generate a report that describes:

• Which capabilities each has
• A summary of where each is different/unique
• Some conclusions about which aspects seem most innovative and interesting that we might want to consider for Firefox

Research

General capabilities

The following will be done in a table with notes and observations following as footnotes.

• - include malware detection and anti-phishing as security categories
• - identify capabilities before diving in
• - exclude "private browsing"/privacy

• -openID
• - users click through warnings dialogs, ignore security indicators, and focus on completing tasks. security indicators are out of the way and hard to interpret, terminology is confusing
• - security UI must balance obviousness with unintrusiveness, convey clarity in reasonable size, and reflect complexity with simplicity - talk to Jonathan Nightingale

• bookmarklets
• blacklisting
• whitelisting
• AJAX
• surf by ip protection
• download actions - don't downloda
• security preferences
• phishing protection
  • make easier to report phishing sites
  • implementing phishing filter that learns automatically - integration w/ phishTank
• script execution
• pop ups
• secure defaults/ no security pop-ups
• restricted javascript
• cookies
• extension installation
• virus/malware protection
• highlight URL domain name in address bar

• Phishing Protection - warn users of suspected forgery (phishing) sites, and offer to take user to search page to find the real Web site they were looking for.

• Automated Update - always checks to see if you’re running the latest version, and notifies you when a security update is available.

• Protection from Spyware - notification whenever downloading or installing software

• Clear Private Data - ability to clear all your private Web browsing data

• Downloads - if web page uses script to try to pop up a download box and force you to deal with it, IE intercepts the script and displays a prompt in the Info bar instead. (IE screenshot)

• Digital Signature Information - provides more information about the publisher of a program as well as whether the program is digitally signed (IE screenshot)

Browsers to investigate

• Firefox 2
• Camino
• Flock
• iCab
• IE 7
• Maxthon
• Netscape
• OmniWeb
• Opera
• Safari
• SeaMonkey
• Shiira

Add-ons to investigate

Firefox

• Adblock
• NoScript
• CookieCuller
• CookiePie