Advanced Browsers

We live in a age of technology all around us and naturally these items can be used in a negative and positive way. This bigger tip will be comprised of multiple smaller actionable items that you can use. Also I’m aiming for the simple tech steps first, if you need any help please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Browsers

I think its a toss up between Firefox and Chrome, both are packed with advanced features and its like choosing between two luxury cars such as Mercedes and a BMW. Below are some key features that are built into the browsers (remember almost everything can be augmented in both browsers with FREE addons).

IE…not a choice for me…here’s why

Browser Security

I resort to using Chrome or Firefox when browsing or doing <strong>any</strong> work on the Internet.Even the “out of box or default” experience for Chrome and Firefox have some pretty good security features. Here are some key features:

Safe browsing technology including simple color coding for kids, i.e.: Red = Bad and will be blocked, (maybe because of content or because of malware or the URL is related to phishing) If you see this kind of Web site, tell Mommy or Daddy. Yellow = could be bad (and can also be blocked by setting). and finally Green – Kids will not see the green marking unless you point them out to it and can browse the web normally. In the Plugins Post <a href=\”http://www.thecybersecurityblog.com/7-tips-to-secure-your-kids-online-part-4-browser-addons-plugins-and-extensions\”>Plugins Post</a> there are a few plugins that i used daily such as the WOT plugin which further enhances this feature of color coding and blocking suspicious sites.

Some additional key features for Parents are the ability to directly tie Parental controls from your computer into the browser and enforce these parental settings such as special browse times (requires a different computer username for the kids, to be enforced), stop unwanted downloads and filter curse words etc. More setting explained in the Parental controls for your MAC or PC. Also we can color code (red = stop, yellow = need adult input etc.) the Web sites depending on our settings to block any sites that are suspicious.

There are some other security feature There are also some Anti – Phishing and Anti – Malware protection which will warn you about fraudulent sites. Another neat feature is to directly tie in with your antivirus on your computer, so the minute you initiate a download of a file, Chrome & Firefox will check if it is malicious as well as your computer’s AV will check. Additionally both Chrome & Firefox has tons of addons, themes, games, to make your browsing experience complete. Please check out Plugins Post for the recommended plugins I use on a daily basis.

Privacy

You can control the Privacy settings in the browser which declares what exactly the browser retains (cookies, image caches etc)after you shut it down, there are features that allow users to specify sites “Not to track” them. You can also do “private browsing” think of it as you don’t know anything about the site, except what someone posted on the forum and you want to be extra careful if you decide to visit the link, this setting with open a incognito tab for you to browse the Web site in.

I’ve outlined some key features that are present in both Firefox and Chrome, which browser is your favorite? Leave me a comment below.

Decisions Decisions

Drop me a line if you need any help! Thanks for visiting.

-Vik

Quick update: The only one minor plus that I can see for Chrome is that you can sign in via a Google ID such as your gmail address, and you can select what you would like to “sync” with Google. So lets say you are on a different computer and use Chrome on that machine, if you sign into the second server, you will automatically sync the plugins and preferences onto the second machine, you won’t have to download the apps again. Screenshot below:

Safe browsing technology including simple color coding for kids, i.e.: Red = Bad and will be blocked, (maybe because of content or because of malware or the URL is related to phishing) If you see this kind of Web site, tell Mommy or Daddy. Yellow = could be bad (and can also be blocked by setting). and finally Green – Kids will not see the green marking unless you point them out to it and can browse the web normally. In the Plugins Post. There are a few plugins that i used daily such as the WOT plugin which further enhances this feature of color coding and blocking suspicious sites.

One additional point: My wife asked me why am i not suggesting a kid safe browser such as kidsonline. Here’s my take on this, its really upto you on how you want to go about this. I personally use Chrome the most and have installed the plugins above the minute I do a fresh install, and honestly these plugins have gained my trust over the year. However, I’ve been toying with the idea of installing kidsonline’s browser on my son’s account and allowing that as an app in parental controls. Stay tuned for an update!