Increase Firefox Security With FormFox

Martin Brinkmann
May 27, 2009
Updated • Jun 26, 2017
Firefox, Firefox add-ons
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Add-ons can increase the security of the Firefox web browser significantly. Popular extensions like NoScript, Safe SSL or Safe Cache add additional security layers to Firefox which protect users outright, or provide them with additional information so that they can make better decisions.

Form Fox is another security add-on for the Firefox web browser. It adds direct information to the submit button of forms on the Internet. What it does? It highlights the destination the data is submitted to.

Attackers may use web forms to submit data that you enter to a third-party server instead of the original server, for instance after a successful hack of the original server and manipulation of the HMTL web page the form is embedded on.

One issue with forms is that inexperienced users have a hard time checking the destination of a web form on a website as it is visible in the source code only. Not only do you have to know how to display the source, you also need to know how to locate the form in it and read it to find out where the information are submitted to.

Even experienced users might not want to check the destination every time they visit the website as this turns out to be quite time consuming when done on every visit.

Form Fox

Form Fox displays the destination link directly in an overlay when you hover the mouse cursor over the submit form, This automates the process and is a real time saver. Instead of having to scan the source for the link every time you want to submit data, e.g. sign in on a website or make an online purchase, you simply hover the mouse over the form before you start to type.

A rule of thumb is that a web form is usually safe if it links to a page on the same domain whereas links to other domains should be analyzed carefully before submitting the form data. FormFox is available for all versions of the Firefox web browser.

Please note that it does not always display the destination. This depends on how the form is implemented on the website you are using the extension on.

Verdict

Form Fox is a useful extension that adds information to Firefox's frontend that is only available in the source code of websites otherwise. You may use it as well to make sure that data is transferred using HTTPS, and not HTTP.

Summary
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5 based on 1 votes
Software Name
FormFox
Software Category
Browser
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Comments

  1. DanTe said on May 27, 2009 at 3:24 pm
    Reply

    Now this is extremely useful. I’ve always wondered where those buttons lead to. And it’s a pain to open up the page source to see it.

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