Tools for ‘Safer Browsing’
…. helping to protect your privacy (to some extent….)
Protection Tools
Basics: you run antivirus (e.g. antivir.de offers a very good freeware one) and a firewall.
Additions: e.g. Computerbild Abzockschutz (translate yourself 😉 ). http://www.computerbild.de/artikel/cb-Special-Sicherheits-Center-Internet-Abzocke-COMPUTER-BILD-schuetzt-4406145.html
Fire Fox PlugIns (Sequence follows my personal rank of importance…)
- No Script – Block JavaScripts where not wanted (and allow where you do…)
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/noscript/?src=search
- RequestPolicy – Specify per host, which additional data the browser is allowed to load from additional hosts
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/requestpolicy/?src=search
- Collusion – Firefox plugin providing a graphical overview of who tracks you while surfing the internet
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/collusion/ - https finder – tries to switch to https whenever the server supports it. In particular recommended when browsing from public WiFi hotspots. In short https ensures that the communication between your browser and the server can neither be tampered with nor be read (e.g. passwords, user names, …) – at least not with justifiable effort 😉 (read more on current TLS 1.0 issues…)
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/https-finder/?src=search - Ghostery – Block Tracking of all kinds
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/ghostery/?src=search - http://disconnect.me
Blocks twitter, google, facebook etc from tracking you on other sites - TrackMeNot – This is a wicked one, obfuscation of the profiles search engines may have about you through random searches
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/trackmenot/?src=search
- Better Privacy – Cookies
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/betterprivacy/?src=search - AdBlock (Plus) – Keeps away the ads and potentially also some tracking
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/?src=search
- Anonymox – Fiddle a little with your http header to access sites, which verify the domain your are coming from
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/anonymox/?src=search
Chrome
- Some of the above FF addons are available on Chrome or in slight variations
Tools outside browser
Beware – depending on your location the use of these tools is legally not permitted or e.g. prohibited by your company
- Fiddler – Analyze traffic
http://www.fiddler2.com/ - NetBalancer – See, which programs on your computer use which connections + give priorities or block ´em
http://seriousbit.com/ - CCCleaner – Clear offline content (cookies, history, browser cache…)
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
also see https://plus.google.com/111122095369026968993/posts