How to Make Firefox More Secure - Best Add-ons for Firefox Security and Privacy

Firefox is one of the best browsers currently available for windows ( and also for linux).

It's agreed that it's a lot safer than Internet Explorer where vulnerabilities are concerned, but as it's popularity has increased in recent years, so have its vulnerablilties. Although critical patches are often available through automatic updates, theres also some things you can do to increase its security.

One of the best things about firefox is the availability of add-ons ( prevously known as extensions) to add features to the browser. Along with some very useful ones, theres also some that increase the security of your web browsing experience and make FireFox more secure.

To guard against the installation of spyware/adware, I recommend using Spywareblaster. This also blocks a lot of spyware in Internet Explorer. It also has he added benefit of having nothing to run, as it simply ads some entries to your computers hostfiles which tell it to block certain known unsafe sites.

- Download Spywareblaster

NoScript is an add-on which automatically blocks Javascript and Java from running on sites you visit. As its possible for someone to use hidden Javascript or Java on web sites that you surf to as a way of infecting your computer with adware, spyware,trojans or attempt to phish your password or other details. Therefore NoScript is a very good thing indeed!

You can approve known "safe" sites that you regularly use by adding them to a whitelist, this means they'll remain fully functional as before. This whitelist "guilty until proven innocent" approach dramatically increases your security online as it rules out a lot of potential vulnerabilities. It also can block Flash and other plugins, allowing them to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank), and provides the most powerful Anti-XSS protection available in a browser.

-Download NoScript

Web of Trust (also called WOT). This extension makes it possible to see whether an internet site is safe to use to surf. The extension shows traffic signal symbols alongside URLs and links. Green means the website is trustworthy; yellow signifies you need to proceed with caution; red meansit's best avoided. The rankings are crowdsourced from WOT’s worldwide user base and they are backed up by trusted third-party sources, for example up-to-date directories of adware and spyware websites.

- Download Web of Trust

Disconnect is a very good anti-tracking and anti-cookie extension as a result of its up-to-date database of tracking cookies, web page load optimization, secure WiFi encryption as well as analytics tools, Disconnect blocks 3rd party tracking cookies and provides you power over over all of the elements of a webpage. It additionally puts a stop to social networks such as Google, Facebook and Twitter from following you just for them to gather information while you surf in other places online.

- Download Disconnect

Keyscrambler is a FireFox Add-on that protects your passwords from being detected by keyloggers (malicious programs,usually "trojans" which attempt to steal your passwords by logging keystrokes)

If you're unfortunate enough to have a keylogger on your computer, it won't see the real keystrokes you type into webpages when you're logging into email sites, etc. Instead it will only see randomly generated keystrokes.

- Download Keyscrambler

HTTPS Everywhere aims to increase your Web-browsing security by making your Firefox browser use the HTTPS secure encrypted mode when possible, on sites which support this. Note: HTTPS Everywhere will not magically enable HTTPS for all websites on the internet. To put it simple, it forces websites to use HTTPS, when available. Therefore on that basis, using HTTPS Everywhere gives a more secure web browsing experience, helpling to protect against, among other things,anyone snooping on a public Wi-Fi connection .

- Download HTTPS Everywhere

I will try to my best to keep this list updated, as with any software and technology in general, the technological landscape and browser standards etc, are always evolving.

A lot of people now user other browsers apart from firefox, and the technology is always moving forward and advancing, but this article is written specifically for those of you who still choose to stay loyal users of Firefox!

Please feel free to recommend any other firefox extensions or security tips in the comments!