CFA/Security-Research

« Comparative Feature Analyses
« Security Notes

General Browser Capabilities

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

Browsers to investigate

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

Add-ons to investigate

Firefox

Internet Explorer

  • Online Protection
    • SpyWall Anti-Spyware - IE sandbox blocks attacks encountered while browsing the web; detects and removes spyware (not free)
    • 1-Click SignupShield Suite - enhanced password manager; protects against phishing fraud and automatically fills out forms; generates unlimited number of unique passwords and disposable Email addresses for signing up to Web sites. It fills sign-up forms and encrypts passwords and Email addresses for later use during sign-in. When you need to sign-in to a Web site, SignupShield automatically retrieves the correct e-mail address and password and fills in the sign-in form for you (not free)
    • McAfee SiteAdvisor for IE - protects from spyware, adware, spam, viruses, browser exploits, and online scams. SiteAdvisor has safety ratings.
    • Password Scrambler - automatically present unique passwords to the sites you visit, generated from a unique master password you choose. It achieves this by uniquely scrambling your password for every site you visit, so every site gets a unique, secure and hard-to-guess password, while you only remember one.
  • Parental Controls
  • Pop-up Blockers
  • Privacy

Meeting Takeaways