Secure Your Internet Browsing Using Mozilla Firefox

As a follow-up to my previous blog entry about Internet Privacy I'm going to focus on securing your internet browsing using Mozilla Firefox. It is my second most favorite browser preferred and I'll tell you how to optimize it for a secure web browsing experience.

Open Firefox --> click on the three horizontal lines in the top right corner to open the settings menu.

--> click on "Options" --> click on the "Privacy" tab
--> under Tracking select the first option 'Tell sites that I do not want to be tracked'
--> under History select "Never remember history"
--> click "OK" button

The next part involves installing third party extensions to further protect your browser. These features aren't automatically built in so we have to add them in. The two extensions I recommend are these:
     1.) AdBlock Plus - helps by blocking intrusive advertisments and annoying pop-ups.
     2.) AdBlock for Youtube - same as above but specifically for the Youtube video website

--> if you are viewing this in Firefox, you can click the links above to instantly be taken to the page where you can choose to install them in Firefox.  

Once AdBlock is installed, it will show a small red stop sign icon with ABP in the center of it. The AdBlock Plus icon can be found at the top-right corner of the Firefox window. A convenient feature with AdBlock Plus is that it can show you how many unsolicited advertisements it currently stops by actively showing a number on it's red icon. This feature can be turned off byclicking on the small arrow on the right-side of the ABP icon and selecting different settings, but I actually like to see the numbers just to see how intrusive some websites really are.

Windows 10 & Privacy Settings

Windows 10 is here and over 50 million people have already upgraded from their previous operating system.

As with everything, there are always Pro's and Con's. There are features you will like and features that you won't. I've had just over three weeks of using Windows 10 and have made a few notes. Here's a short list of what is good and bad about Windows 10.

Pros:
     * It's completely free
     * It is very fast and very reliable and is comparable to Windows 7 or Windows XP
     * It finally brought back the sorely missed "Start" menu as the Windows button
     * It can stream Xbox One to your computer screen so you can use it remotely within a home
     * It has a built-in game recording feature so that you can capture your gameplay
     * It has a very fast internet browser called "Edge" formerly known as Internet Explorer

Cons:
     * It's a big download at more than 6GB so make sure you have a good internet connection
     * You can't easily find the control panel. Right-click the Window (Start) button to find it
     * Streaming and connecting to the Xbox One requires you to be logged into your Live ID and forces you to use a Live ID login for that particular computer
     * Edge is fast but only if you let it invade your privacy. Instead I only use Google Chrome.
     * and the biggest flaw of Windows 10 is Privacy, or the lack thereof

Windows 10 will completely and totally spy on your actvity and invade your privacy unless you change the default privacy settings to off. By default, Microsoft enables all kinds of features to monitor activities on the computer most likely for data mining purposes.


How to change the Windows 10 Privacy Options:

--> click the start button or Windows button, which is the small windows icon in the bottom-left corner. --> click "Settings"
--> click on the "Privacy" icon which looks like lock symbol.
--> instead of me telling you how to go through each setting individually, just turn everything to off. That's right, EVERYTHING OFF!


While that doesn't completely stop Windows 10 from calling home or sending data directly to Microsoft, it will prevent a large majority of applications and background processes from transmitting your activity and information.

Secure Your Internet Browsing Using Google Chrome

Privacy. That's the biggest, most important thing that you want to protect while you are online. Protect yourselves from, intrusive advertisements, harmful applications, browser hijacks, and unsolicited emails. There is no perfect method but there are steps you can take to increase your security.

Securing your internet browser is one of the best ways to protect your online presence. There's many ways to secure your browsing depending on which browser you use.

I'm going to focus on Google Chrome. It is my preferred web browser at the moment and I'll tell you how to optimize it for the most secure web browsing experience.

Open Google Chrome --> click on the three horizontal lines in the top right corner to open the settings menu.

--> click on "Settings" --> scroll to the bottom and click "Show advanced settings"
--> under Privacy put a check box in the last box "Send a 'Do Not Track' request with your browsing traffic"


The next part involves installing third party extensions to further protect your browser. These features aren't automatically built in so we have to add them in. The three extensions I recommend are these:
     1.) AdBlock - helps by blocking intrusive advertisments and annoying pop-ups.
     2.) AdBlock for Youtube - same as above but specifically for the Youtube video website
     3.) Clear history - clears out your browsing history as soon as you close the Chrome window.

--> next look over to the top-left side of the window and click on "Extensions" under the Chrome heading.
--> scroll to the very bottom and click "Get more extensions"
--> here you can manually search for the extensions listed above or if you want them right away without looking, here are the direct links.
     1.) AdBlock
     2.) AdBlock for Youtube
     3.) Clear history

Once AdBlock is installed in Chrome, it will show a small red stop sign icon with a small white hand in the center of it. The AdBlock icon can be found at the top-right corner of the Chrome window. A convenient feature with AdBlock is that it can show you how many unsolicited advertisements it currently stops by actively showing a number on it's red icon. This feature can be turned off by right clicking on it and choosing different settings, but I actually like to see the numbers just to see how intrusive some websites really are.


You can even go a step further and enable Chrome's Incognito mode. Incognito mode increases your privacy even more and helps to mask and stealth your online browsing from websites collecting your information. Enable it by pressing the keyboard shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + N.