Browser Security Test

[Berserker]

There have been posts about what browser is the best. Here is a test for the security of your Browser.
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/

[Princess Turandot]

1. Gave it a shot..

it reported 2 'problems' on Maxthon, a shell tabbed browser based on IE, but with its own features. The problems were basic java and cookies.

Opera passed everything but the java and cookie enabled baseline. It did not pass the other server cookie test, so I changed that setting.


Firefox gave me 4 errors, basic java and cookies, third party cookies and also said that one of the java pop-up windows was active.
After I tried the test again, it said I had passed that one.

Maxthon did not offer me the opportunity to download anything already blocked, although Firefox did.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Java Windows

The Java popups are what SPAMmers are moving to now to try to circumvent pop-up blockers. This is a shortcoming of FF at the moment, but my understanding is that it's on the stack of things to be addressed.

I don't know how other browsers are dealing with this. To my knowledge, none of them have actively tried to block them -- I know for certain IE doesn't -- but I could be wrong. If one knows how to mess with JAVA settings, it can be done, but it'll turn off some things you might want as well.

[Princess Turandot]

4. I know how to disable basic Java but don't want to..

I think the test had simple descriptions of some of the specific Java routines which produce pop-ups, all of which my Maxthon passed. I don't use IE but rather Maxthon, which is a browser shell program based on IE, that has tabs and a lot of built in features, as well as a ton of extensions written for it. I don't use IE as a stand alone program because years ago, Opera got me into tabbed browsing. I only use IE for the Windows Update feature. (I didn't bother to run the tests on the Jason site on IE alone.)

I didn't post the test, Berserker did.He likes FireFox a lot and I thought he might be posting it to show that it is more secure than Internet Explorer. I think it's okay and use it but it doesn't overwhlem me and people are starting to write spamware for it according to what Spyware Blaster now downloads. I also don't like its visual display that much.I actually use it when I cannot get something to display in Maxthon.

I would use Opera primarily, but there are still quite a few pages which don't display correctly on it.

I also do run proxy software on my computer, the good old Proxomitron whose developer has passed away, but people still write configurations for it.

Here is the link for Maxthon if anyone is curious about it:
http://www.maxthon.com/en/index.htm It's multi-ethnic: I believe a Chinese guy does most of the browser work and a Polish gal does a lot of the extension work.

[RoyGBiv]

5. I understand ...

I wasn't commenting one way or the other about your choice of browser, and I realize you didn't post the link. We've discussed Maxthon, Opera, FF, etc. before. I say use whatever works for you. I'll only rib you about it if you say what works is IE because I just plain hate it. :-)

I do use IE at work and when absolutely necessary at home. It's becoming less necessary, and I'm working on our IT department to dump it for something, anything, else, as long as it has tabbed browsing. I sometimes have 20 windows open by necessity at work, and I keep telling them I'd be much more efficient in my job if these were tabs and not separate windows. Anyway ...

I was just doing a follow-up to the java test thing. I think, although am not certain, it's a pretty simple test that doesn't so much test security as the ability of certain types of code to do what it is they do. That would not, for example, measure how a browser deals with that code in any particular circumstance. As an unrelated example, FF blocks pop-ups, but it doesn't block all pop-ups if you have it configured a certain way. That doesn't necessarily make my browser less secure. Same with cookies.

Basically, the test determines if you have things enabled. I could configure FF to pass all those tests, but I choose not to.

[RoyGBiv]

3. Tests ...

Good link.

Only problem I have with tests like this is that there's not a great deal of explanation of what's being tested. I sometimes want popups, and I sometimes want "3rd party" cookies, for example. I'm able to configure my browser and firewall combo pretty well to deal with it.