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Securing Mozilla Firefox

Last modified: 2011-12-25 12:43:58 EET

Open Mozilla Firefox options by clicking the orange Firefox button and clicking Options.
If you like menus more, press Alt on your keyboard once, open Tools menu and click Options instead.

First, click Content tab above and click Advanced... button to the right of the Enable JavaScript button.

Advanced JavaScript Settings window opens. Make sure you deselect everything except the Disable or replace context menus option. This will keep malicious sites from messing around with open Firefox windows.
Click OK to close the window.

Next, click the Privacy tab. Those very concerned about their privacy and possibility of ad-related tracking on the Internet should check the Tell web sites I do not want to be tracked box.
Next, select Use custom settings for history from the Firefox will: box.
Right under Accept third-party cookies there is the Keep until: box. Select I close Firefox from there.
PS. You can also clear the Accept third-party cookies box for better privacy, but keep in mind that a few web sites might not work properly after this.
Next, make sure to select the Clear history when Firefox closes check box and then click Settings... button to the right of it.

Settings for Clearing History window opens. Always select Download History and Active Logins check boxes in History section.
Those very concerned about their privacy can check Cookies in History section, too.
Never check this one if you use two-factor authentication on web sites such as Gmail or Facebook!
In Data section, it is recommended to activate Saved Passwords option. Never use web browser for remembering your login details - any malware can steal these within seconds! Use Password Safe for storing and auto-filling logins instead.
Those not playing online games in Firefox can also put a check mark into Offline Website Data box. Remember that enabling this option can delete your saved games and other settings!
Click OK to close the window.

Open Security tab. Make sure that Warn me when sites try to install add-ons, Block reported attack sites and Block reported web forgeries check boxes are selected - these options will keep your internet browsing safer.
Clear the Remember passwords for sites box. This is very important because malware can easily steal all user names and passwords for sites you have visited (including your bank!). Use Password Safe for remembering passwords instead.

Next, click the Network sub-tab and make sure that the Tell me when a website asks to store data for offline use box is checked. This one can be left unchecked by those who are hardcore online gamers to prevent confirmation messages for saved games and settings.

The last thing to check is to make sure that Firefox updates itself and its add-ons/extensions automatically. Click Update sub-tab under Advanced tab. Make sure that everything is checked under Automatically check for updates to. This makes sure that Firefox, its add-ons and search engines stay up-to-date.
Then, under When updates to Firefox are found, select Automatically download and install the update.

That's it for the easy part - click OK button to return to Mozilla Firefox.

Disabling geolocation in Firefox

For some strange reason, Mozilla has not included an easy way to turn off geolocation in Firefox. You must take steps that may make you look like a hacker among your friends to disable sites tracking your physical location.

First, open a new Tab (keyboard shortcut for this is Ctrl+T). Type about:config into Address Bar and press Enter key.

Firefox will disable a somewhat funny warning about warranty. Ever heard of a warrant for an Internet browser? Yeah, me neither.
Click I'll be careful, I promise.

A long list of cryptic options opens. Type geo. into Filter field to display only items related to geolocation.

Double-click the very first item, geo.enabled, so that its Value turns to false. This turns off geolocation services.
Then double-click the last item, geo.wifi.uri.

An Enter string value dialog opens. Type localhost in the text field and click OK. This disables sending your location data outside your computer. The "localhost" actually means your own PC in network terms, so no important data about your current physical location will be sent to anyone else now.

The geolocation services in Firefox are now disabled, close the Tab.

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