gHacks technology news » browser security http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:14:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Google’s Browser Security Handbook http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/02/googles-browser-security-handbook/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/02/googles-browser-security-handbook/#comments Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:24:13 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=9523 Google has publicly released a Browser Security Handbook, a handbook that “is meant to provide web application developers, browser engineers, and information security researchers with a one-stop reference to key security properties of contemporary web browsers”.

The Browser Security Handbook is divided into three parts and a download that contains dozens of examples. The three parts are “Basic concepts behind web browsers”, “Standard browser security features” and “Experimental and legacy security mechanisms”.

“The document currently covers several hundred security-relevant characteristics of Microsoft Internet Explorer (versions 6 and 7), Mozilla Firefox (versions 2 and 3), Apple Safari, Opera, Google Chrome, and Android embedded browser. ”

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/02/googles-browser-security-handbook/feed/ 3 Update To Opera 9.52 Now http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/20/update-to-opera-952-now/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/20/update-to-opera-952-now/#comments Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:25:35 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=6322 Several security vulnerabilities have been lately discovered in versions of Opera prior to Opera 9.52. The security vulnerabilities are classified as highly critical and include possibilities to bypass security, spoof, expose sensitive information, DoS and provide system access to an attacker.

The Opera 9.52 changelog contains information about the security vulnerabilities. Each one of the listed alone would be serious enough to be fixed immediately, all of them make the matter even more pressing. At least one vulnerability is only affecting computers running Windows but most affect all versions of Opera.

The update is deemed a security and stability update. Next to the important security fixes many changes to various aspects of Opera have been made. The changelog lists more than 30 fixes for various problems that could arise while using Opera.

The latest download is available directly on the Opera website.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/20/update-to-opera-952-now/feed/ 4 YesScript is NoScript’s Antagonist http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/12/yesscript-is-noscripts-antagonist/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/12/yesscript-is-noscripts-antagonist/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:17:07 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=6095 NoScript is a highly acclaimed Firefox security add-on that protects the user from scripts that are executed on websites. The approach is to block all scripts on a website unless the website gets whitelisted by the user. While that is certainly the best security approach it does require lots of manual whitelisting in the beginning and when visiting new websites.

Most users on the other hand prefer simplicity and no user interaction and that’s where YesScript comes into play. Its approach is the complete opposite of NoScript. YesScript allows all scripts on all websites unless they are blacklisted by the user.

The advantage of this method is that less user interaction is required. It does however undermine the security aspect because scripts will be executed normally as long as the website is not in the blacklist.

It comes down to an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. NoScript provides enhanced security while YesScript less work and vice versa. Installing YesScript from a security standpoint does not make that much sense but it is quite capable of removing scripts from websites that make extensive use of them.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/12/yesscript-is-noscripts-antagonist/feed/ 8 Browser Security Test http://www.ghacks.net/2008/02/14/browser-security-test/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/02/14/browser-security-test/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:26:37 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2008/02/14/browser-security-test/ Is my browser secure ? That’s a question that I hear and read day in day out from users throughout the country. It seems that new security vulnerabilities are discovered each day which adds to this uncertainty. They could be vulnerable even if they use the latest version of Opera, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari because those browsers tend to get updated less often than vulnerabilities are discovered.

That’s where browser security test comes into play. The test may crash the browser that you are using and I suggest to close and save all important tabs before you continue. The user has the choice of running tests that are browser specific, e.g. only Firefox tests if Firefox is being used, to run all tests or select tests from a list of available tests.

The check is performing a maximum of 14 tests which are listed on a separate page linking to detailed information about each vulnerability. The actual tests are performed in a new window and results are shown at the end of all tests.

browser security test

If your browser should crash during the test you can use the restore session function of most modern browsers to continue the test. It is alternatively possible to visit the website of the Browser Security Test again to continue with the test.

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