Halal Yeah: New Web Browser For Muslims Filters Out Impure Content

Sometimes it's tough to get old ideas to make sense alongside new ones.  In fact, many long-held views - particularly involving religion vs. modern computers - match up with the future about as well as trying to play a vinyl record on a cassette deck.  However, sometimes the past and the future can be reconciled for a greater ideal, where both mentalities can meet in the middle...

Why tempt the mighty wrath of Allah,
when you can browse in spiritual safety with Salam?
(Image courtesy themalaymailonline.com.)

Apple Issues Safari Security Update

Make sure you're up to date.  From ZDNet:

Apple has issued security updates for the Safari browser on Mac OS. All of the vulnerabilities are in the WebKit browser engine in Safari and many other programs.

The update fixes 27 vulnerabilities, 26 of which could lead to remote code execution. The 27th could allow a program running arbitrary code (such as one which exploited one of the first 26 vulnerabilities) to read arbitrary files despite sandbox restrictions.

Firefox: Open Source Security Solutions to Internet Surveillance

From Brendan Eich, CTO of Mozilla:

Mozilla has one critical advantage over all other browser vendors. Our products are truly open source . . . As Anthony Jones from our New Zealand office pointed out the other month, security researchers can use this fact to verify the executable bits contained in the browsers Mozilla is distributing, by building Firefox from source and comparing the built bits with our official distribution . . .

To ensure that no one can inject undetected surveillance code into Firefox, security researchers and organizations should:

• regularly audit Mozilla source and verified builds by all effective means;
• establish automated systems to verify official Mozilla builds from source;
• raise an alert if the verified bits differ from official bits.

In the best case, we will establish such a verification system at a global scale, with participants from many different geographic regions and political and strategic interests and affiliations.

Security is never “done” — it is a process, not a final rest-state. No silver bullets. All methods have limits. However, open-source auditability cleanly beats the lack of ability to audit source vs. binary.

Through international collaboration of independent entities we can give users the confidence that Firefox cannot be subverted without the world noticing, and offer a browser that verifiably meets users’ privacy expectations.

Firefox Add-on Helps Users Watch the Watchers

From Lightbeam:

Using interactive visualizations, Lightbeam enables you to see the first and third party sites you interact with on the Web. As you browse, Lightbeam reveals the full depth of the Web today, including parts that are not transparent to the average user. Using three distinct interactive graphic representations — Graph, Clock and List — Lightbeam enables you to examine individual third parties over time and space, identify where they connect to your online activity and provides ways for you to engage with this unique view of the Web.

Chrome Auto-Complete May Be Undermining Your Data Security

From Yoast:

Today at Pubcon Matt Cutts of Google once again promoted the use of autocomplete-type, a new property for web forms that works in Chrome (and possibly other browsers, I haven’t checked). Google first introduced it back in January 2012 in this post. I wanted to do this quick post to tell you to turn off autocomplete in your browser.

This test URL will show you why quicker than I can explain it in words. Please try it and come back. If you’re using autocomplete to, for instance, sign up for an email newsletter, you might have just provided that website with your full address and/or (even worse) your credit card details too.

Chrome Cache Security Vulnerability

Make sure to dump that cache.  From USA Today:

A major security flaw in Google's popular Chrome browser was exposed on Thursday by data management firm Identity Finder.  The flaw comes into play anytime you type personal information into webforms at trusted websites or directly into the Chrome browser address bar.

Researchers found that Chrome's caching mechanism routinely stores names, e-mail addresses, street addresses, phone numbers, bank account numbers, social security numbers and credit card numbers directly onto your hard drive in plain text -- without your knowledge or consent.  The function of a browser cache is to store files from websites, mainly to speed display of web pages on your next visit.  It's trivial for anyone with physical access to your computer to view and copy all of this sensitive personal data.

Sophos: Firefox Voted Most Trustworthy Browser

What's your preferred browser?  A Sophos survey finds Firefox in the lead.  From Naked Security:

About a month ago I asked Naked Security readers Which web browser do you trust? Your answer was emphatic: it's Firefox.  I asked this question because trustworthiness has become an important selection criteria for web browsers and there is no objective test for it.

Modern web browsers are mature and complex products and, despite inflated version numbers and conspicuously busy release cycles, their feature sets evolve quite slowly.

Selecting the right web browser is no longer a question of what the software can do, it's about whether or not it can do the things we expect it to do quickly, securely and with due regard for our privacy.

Our poll offered readers the chance to vote for one of the six most popular web browsers -  Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari and Chromium - and asked which you trusted the most.

Image source: The Bandwidth Blog.

Mozilla Introduces Firefox PDF Viewer

From Mozilla:

Firefox for Windows, Mac and Linux introduces a built-in browser PDF viewer that allows you to read PDFs directly within the browser, making reading PDFs easier because you don’t have to download the content or read it in a plugin like Reader. For example, you can use the PDF viewer to check out a menu from your favorite restaurant, view and print concert tickets or read reports without having to interrupt your browsing experience with extra clicks or downloads.