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Execute

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Which is the Most Secure Browser?
« on: October 08, 2015, 05:25:39 pm »
I have used plenty of browsers with many different features. The question about internet security arises. Which browser is the most secure?
There are a few things to consider here - how much time does it take to patch vulnerabilities; does the browser block ads and/or has virus and malware scan integrated in it; does it track your personal data and if so, what kind and how, e.g. cookies...
In this article, we have covered some pretty interesting facts about the most popular browsers: http://sensorstechforum.com/which-is-the-most-secure-browser-for-2015-firefox-chrome-internet-explorer-safari/
So I have found out what time does it take for the most popular browsers to change their code, in order to patch vulnerabilities and exploits:
  • Google Chrome - up to 15 days
  • Maxthon Cloud Browser - up to 15 days
  • Mozilla Firefox - up to 28 days
  • Internet Explorer - up to 30 days
  • Opera - up to 48 days
  • Apple Safari - up to 54 days
Less used browsers such as Opera and Safari may need a longer time to update their code, but usually less vulnerabilities and exploits have been discovered for them in general.

WhiteHat Aviator, SRWare Iron and Maxthon have an Ad-blocker integrated with their default installation.
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Comodo Dragon and many others have an option to add an Ad-blocker as an extension, but also incorporate some basic virus protection for files downloaded.

Unfortunately, all above-mentioned browsers use cookies to track data in some way, to be supported by ads in order to provide a free service and so on. Anonymity on the Internet is pretty much gone, but it can be achieved through the browsers Tor and WhiteHat Aviator as they have the most features related to it and to me they can be considered as the most secured browsers.

What do you think? I am interested to see your comments on the matter!  8)
« Last Edit: January 06, 2016, 10:58:37 am by Execute »

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Vermon

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Re: Which is the Most Secure Browser?
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2015, 04:44:17 pm »
I have used the Aviator browser before  >:(. It has hundreds and hundreds of registry entries and lots of files in lots of folders. I ran a check in herdProtect, because I got suspicious. The result - quite a few Anti-virus scanners detected some Java scripts as Adware/PUPs - the only browser that is against those things!! I will never trust it since then!!!!!!!!!!! :o

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never

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Re: Which is the Most Secure Browser?
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2015, 09:25:05 am »
Yes, totally agree with Vermon.

By the way, Aviator browser's source code was finally posted online, according to The Chromium Project's requrements. It was concealed for a long time and this raised some concerns.

What is more the app is not signed and there is no way to report bugs on it which was really suspicious. Oh and did I forget that my browser renders it as untrusted when you go to download an executable from their server?:

https://updates.aviatorbrowser.com/Win/Aviator.msi

I don't know but i feel like my trust has competely evaporated when it comes to this browser.

Otherwise I strongly recommend for those who wish to remain anonymous online (at least on some level) to use this piece of useful code, called i2p (The Invisible Internet Project):
https://geti2p.net/en/download

The reason I would prefer it than Tor and other browser, regarding annonimity is that besides the many defenses and built in features it has, it uses cryptographic encryption to encrypt messages, which most of us know may take  a lot of time to crack. You can find more info here:
https://geti2p.net/en/docs/how/intro
« Last Edit: October 20, 2015, 09:45:53 am by never »

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Execute

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Re: Which is the Most Secure Browser?
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2015, 10:32:21 am »
@Vermon - it is interesting if herdProtect didn't detect Firefox and Chrome (if you have them installed), because they run ads to support themselves (although you can also add AdBlockers to them). I don't know if those detections were just False Positives. As for the big amount of files - this is a browser that has more tools than other browsers in-built so the features based on security and privacy to work effectively.

@never - you are right that WhiteHat Aviator should have made their source code open since the release of the browser, but as I have read they are a small team and even released the browser only for Mac OS X at first. From January this year the source code was made open, so its a positive note. I wonder if they were trying to fix vulnerabilities in their modification of the Chromium code, on their own and they didn't post the code for security reasons...
Anyway, I have noticed that other browsers indeed detect the update section of the Aviator site. It appears that it shows an invalid security certificate which expired on 4.9.2015 (more than a month ago).  This is disturbing and I agree that is quite the trust issue!
The i2p network program you posted might be a good solution for privacy and it looks it can be put on any browser. However, it is more tech-orientated and some users might want to read more about it before using it. I thank you for that information, because it will be very useful to me (I hope to others as well).

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Grover Frank

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Re: Which is the Most Secure Browser?
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2017, 09:18:38 pm »
I was aware about browser security but this discussion helped me a lot knowing what it means.

Thank a lot guys.

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Execute

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Re: Which is the Most Secure Browser?
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2017, 10:36:29 am »
This topic will be updated in the newly available thread, called:

Which is the Most Secure Browser for 2017?