[AT] OT - Firefox problems

Spencer Yost spencer at rdfarms.com
Fri Jan 29 10:21:32 PST 2021


I’ll jump in here since cybersecurity is what I do for a living and browser “hacking” and penetration testing is part of what my department does.

Firefox and Brave are neck and neck in the race as to who does the most to protect privacy. Firefox’s security features are more customizable and therefore continues to get our recommendation.  Plus as  others have mentioned here FIreFox’s UI/UX is a known quantity and everyone is used to and comfortable with FF. But Brave is very good and certainly a great option. 

If you’re really serious about all aspects of security the TOR browser is the only way to go but it’s overkill for virtually everyone in my humble opinion.

And just to prove all this is not so black-and-white, devices play a role too.   The browser that protects both your overall security and privacy best when using Apple equipment  such as a MacBook, is good old Safari.  Android and Apple devices “sandbox” apps so then any browser becomes more secure simply because of the device.  Then you run it on Windows and suddenly it becomes less secure :-)

https://source.android.com/security/app-sandbox

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/app_sandbox

All things being equal Firefox or Brave for privacy or Safari on Apple stuff.  Google Chrome and anything built on Google’s chromium engine such Microsoft Edge is a distant second.

Spencer 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 29, 2021, at 10:00 AM, cgs <oxygenfarm at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>  Linux Mint Mate 19.3, constantly updated, with FF85.
> 
> On 1/29/21 9:54 AM, Stephen Offiler wrote:
>> I was a Chrome user for years, and heard about Brave maybe 6 months ago.  I decided to give it a try, and I've been running it at work ever since.  I was surprised how similar Brave is to Chrome.  One difference is the little lion symbol in the upper right.  That is the "shield" control. It is working to block malicious sites, and sometimes goes overboard a bit, so you can hit that symbol and change the controls for the site in question.  
>> 
>> At home I run Firefox under Linux Mint, whatever version you get when you do the Linux install.  Checked this morning and discovered it's 85.  I understand MikeM's complaint is that the upgrade from 84 caused him to lose all of his customization.  Aside from that serious issue, Firefox 85 seems fine to me.
>> 
>> SO
>> 
>> 
>> On Fri, Jan 29, 2021 at 2:08 AM Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>>> Thanks Mogrits,
>>> I was able to get Firefox to work again by completely deleting it. It picked up my original profile by default on the reinstall. I still have Brave installed on my computer and will continue to play with it, I'm concerned that Firefox has gotten to big for their britches.
>>> 
>>> Best Regards,
>>> Mike M 
>>> 
>>> On 1/29/2021 1:31 AM, Mogrits wrote:
>>>> Mike you seemed to have privacy concerns earlier. I'd recommend you try to get used to Brave. I haven't had any adjustment issues with Brave. It's a little bit different concept but it works great. Every once in a while you'll run into a site that won't load because of what it blocks but I don't see that as a negative.
>>>> 
>>>> On Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 2:24 PM Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hi Phil, I tried Brave, like Mogrits suggested, but just didn't care for how it worked. I'm just too set in my ways. Tried Chrome, and although it's different than Firefox, the learning curve is shorter, and it still allowed me to us my add blocking extensions. I'll be using that for the foreseeable future. Avoid Firefox 85 like the plague. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>> Mike M
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On 1/28/2021 11:05 AM, Phil Auten wrote:
>>>>>> Mike, Thanks for the heads up on the Firefox update. I will second the recommendation on DuckDuckGo as the search engine, helps out a bunch on blocking ads and pop up windows too.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Phil in TX
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On 1/27/2021 11:53 PM, Mike M wrote:
>>>>>>> Thanks, I'll give it a shot, I had FF working like a well oiled machine until the update, that's what irritates me. 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>> Mike M
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On 1/28/2021 12:23 AM, Mogrits wrote:
>>>>>>>> Download Brave Browser and set DuckDuckGo as your search engine, since you are starting from scratch you have nothing to lose. I think you will love it.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 10:19 PM Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Unfortunately it's not, so i guess I start from ground zero.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Mike M
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> On 1/26/2021 8:42 PM, Howard Pletcher wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> If you did a Delete to get rid of the new version, it may be in your recycle bin.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> If you did an Uninstall, then probably not.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Howard
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> On Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 8:18 PM Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> 85Hi Guys, Ok after getting my old profile back I didn't like Firefox 85 at all with all the tiles and what not, it looked like Windows 10. So I foolishly deleted Firefox 85 and was hoping to download 84, which I was happy with. I then realized I had NO browser. After dredging up and old computer I was able to download a copy of Firefox to a memory card and get a browser back on my computer. Now however it seems that none of the profiles contain all my bookmarks and passwords. Like I said before there is a file on my desktop that is called "old firefox data" is there a way i can create a new profile to restore my bookmarks and passwords from that?
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks, Mike
>>>>>>>>>>>  
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> On 1/26/2021 5:53 PM, Stuart Harner wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> No, that is just Firefox just trying to collect all your data on their servers just like Microsoft and Google. There is money in data.
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>  
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> They claim it is to make things easier for the user. But I DON’T want all my various computers to have the same profile! There are separate computers for a reason and a single profile is not one of them.
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>  
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> FF is nice but it is getting more big brother with each “upgrade”.
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>  
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> YMMV
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>  
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> From: AT [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Ken Knierim
>>>>>>>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2021 4:11 PM
>>>>>>>>>>>> To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group
>>>>>>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [AT] OT - Firefox problems
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>  
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Mike,
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>     I'm running the new version (84 or 85) of Firefox... speed is a LOT better on the new one (matching or exceeding Chrome on several benchmarks with far better security) but it's got some quirks. They are pushing into using the firefox accounts where you log into firefox; when I did this I ended up with my bookmarks showing up from my home computer (Linux Centos 7) and my work computer (Winders 10) all added together. I'm not sure how it's supposed to work but that's what I ended up with. This MAY help, but it could have also been a Microsoft update (meaning MS blew some things away for "security reasons").
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>  
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Hope this helps
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>  
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Ken
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>  
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> On Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 2:44 PM Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> OK, sorry for the off topic post, but I have a real problem. My computer
>>>>>>>>>>>> updated to Firefox 85 last night, and now ALL my bookmarks are gone,
>>>>>>>>>>>> should I just delete 85 and reinstall an older version. There is a new
>>>>>>>>>>>> new folder on my desktop called old Firefox data.
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>>>>>> Mike M
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> --
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>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> -- 
>>>>>>>>>> Howard
>>>>>>>>>> 
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> -- 
> Charlie
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