How to Configure Privacy and Security Settings

Firefox has many easy-to-use options for protecting your privacy and security whenever you access the Internet. How you configure them depends on your situation:

• If you are in a public location or at work, you may have to re-configure these settings for your own needs.
• If you are using your personal computer and do not allow others to use it for Internet purposes, you need only configure these settings once.
• You can also carry a portable version of Firefox on a USB memory stick with you. This lets you configure Firefox to your requirements and you can use this version on any public computer.

Step 1. Select: Tools > Options in the Firefox menu bar to activate the Options window as follows:

Figure 1: The Options window in Main mode

Note: Click: Main if you are not automatically directed to the Main window as shown in Figure 1.

Here you will find the main configuration settings for Firefox.

2.1 How to Configure the Privacy window

The Privacy window lets you manage privacy and security options for the browser.

Step 1. Click: Privacy to activate the following screen:

Figure 2: The Privacy window

• The History section

The History section lets you manage your Firefox browser 'history', that is, a list of all the different sites you have visited since you began using the program. By disabling the following options, you will leave no trace of the website addresses you have visited on this computer.

Step 2. Click to disable both the Remember visited pages for the last [number of] days and Remember what I enter in forms and the search bar options (if this option was not previously enabled) as shown below:

Figure 3: The disabled options in the History section

• The Cookies section

The Cookies section lets you manage how and when you let cookies download themselves onto your workstation. A cookie is a file used to authenticate, maintain or track your Internet behaviour and habits. Every time you visit a particular web site, its cookies automatically download themselves onto your computer. For example, when you open some webmail login pages, your user name automatically appears. This is because that site has set a cookie on your computer and associated your login page with that cookie. Although many cookies are required for accessing and browsing Internet sites, some might be designed for potentially harmful or malicious purposes. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you delete all cookies downloaded to your computer after you have finished using Firefox. Please refer to The Private Data section below to learn how to do this.

Step 3. Activate the Keep until: drop-down list to view its options as follows:

Figure 4: The Keep until: drop-down list

Step 4. Choose I close Firefox option.

• The Private Data section

The Private Data section lets you manage how information collected when browsing the Internet is treated. This includes the cache, cookies, web history, and temporary files. You are strongly advised to clear All Private Data after you have finished browsing the Internet, especially when using computers designated for public use.

Step 5. Click to enable the Always clear my data when I close Firefox and Ask me before clearing private data options (if these options were not previously enabled).

Step 6. Click: and check all the options in the window presented.

Figure 5: The Clear Private Data screen

Step 7. Click: and again to confirm your settings.

Note: To clear your private data held in the Firefox browser at any time simply Select: Tools > Clear Private Data or press the Ctrl+Shift+Del keys.

The Private Data section is now set to delete cookies after each session, and duplicates the behaviour previously set in the 'Cookies' section. It is a good idea to enable both options, given the importance of clearing cookies. The other forms of private data, such as history and passwords, are only visible to people who are sitting at your computer, so you might occasionally decide not to clear all of them. Remember that cookies can be sent to the web sites you visit, which makes them especially vulnerable.

For an advanced and more secure way of deleting temporary data, please refer to the Ccleaner chapter.

2.2 How to Configure the Security window

Among other things, the Security window lets you manage how your login and password information is stored. Although many browsers are equipped to save and store this information, it is strongly recommended that you do not use them, as they could pose a security risk. For more information on password storage, please refer to KeePass chapter.

Step 1. Click: Security to activate the following window:

Figure 6: The Security window

In the first section, it is a good idea to check the Tell me if the site I'm visiting is a suspected forgery option. In addition to this, you can use a combination of Add-ons from section 5.0 More Firefox Add-ons, like FormFox and McAfee SiteAdvisor to automatically inform you if you are visiting an unsafe web site.

The other settings in the Security window can be left as they are by default.