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Lee Maxwell "How to harden a web browser from MEETING DATE: January 12, 2017 |
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Lee Maxwell "How to harden a web browser from MEETING DATE: January 12, 2017 |
By Lee Maxwell
Web browsers have always played a central role in personal computer usage, but as time has passed, their roles has grown and expanded as theyve become capable of carrying out more and more Internet-related tasks, including handling email, accessing social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, shopping for practically any good or service, listening to music and watching videos, managing banking and investment accounts, and much more.
But with the expanding role of web browsers has come more and more security threats, as crooks try to use web browsers to "social engineer" or scam browser users with a variety of methods, including phishing emails, pharming or bogus websites, and using corrupted, malicious software that takes control of web browsers through JavaScript, Oracle Java and Adobe Flash. (Note: the latter are not corrupt in themselves., and their developers try to make them secure from corruption, but they have all developed reputations as avenues for attacks in web browsers, and so must be considered suspect.)
Besides using anti-malware software to find and remove malware from computers, users can also employ add-ons or plug-ins in web browsers to make browsers less vulnerable to these kinds of exploits. Most of these add-ons or plug-ins are free and easy to install and use, although some of the best ones take some time to understand and configure.
Lee will discuss some of these threats and how add-ons/plug-ins can harden your browser, and how to find, install and use some of these mini-programs. He will cover how to do this in Internet Explorer and Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple’s Safari.
Lee has been a BCUG member for many years, is the co-leader of the MacWaves and Linux Users Group workshops, and is the editor of BCUG Bytes and is one of the webminders of bcug.com. He also is a self-employed computer consultant and troubleshooter, specializing in troubleshooting Macintosh computers but also solving problems on Windows PCs and PCs running Linux, as well as computer graphics, networks and more. He is an occasional bicyclist and now lives in northern Howell Township, after having lived in Asbury Park for 14 years.
