Windows 10: Improved Security and Privacy Indicators in Firefox 70

Brink · Oct 16, 2019

The upcoming Firefox 70 release will update the security and privacy indicators in the URL bar.

In recent years we have seen a great increase in the number of websites that are delivered securely via HTTPS. At the same time, privacy threats have become more prevalent on the web and Firefox has shipped new technologies to protect our users against tracking.

To better reflect this new environment, the updated UI takes a step towards treating secure HTTPS as the default method of transport for websites, instead of a way to identify website security. It also puts greater emphasis on user privacy.

This post will outline the major changes to our primary security indicators:

A new permanent “protections” icon to access information about the restrictions Firefox is applying to the page to protect your privacy.

A new crossed-out lock icon as indicator for insecure HTTP and a new color for the lock icon that marks sites delivered securely.

A new placement for Extended Validation (EV) indicators.

Streamlining Security and Identity Indicators

Firefox traditionally marked sites delivered via a secure transport mechanism with a green lock icon. Sites delivered via insecure mechanisms got no additional security indicators. All sites were marked with an “information” icon, which served as an access point for more site information.

As part of the changes in Firefox 70, we will start showing a crossed-out lock icon as permanent indicator for sites delivered via the insecure protocols HTTP and FTP. Over two years ago, we started showing this indicator for insecure login pages. We also announced our intent to expand by showing a negative indicator for all HTTP pages as HTTPS adoption increases. By now, Firefox loads about 80% of pages via HTTPS.

The formerly green lock icon will now become gray, with the intention of de-emphasizing the default (secure) connection state and instead putting more emphasis on broken or insecure connections.

We will remove the “information” icon. The lock icon will be the new entry point for accessing security and identity information about the website.

Moving the EV indicator out of the URL Bar

A recent study by Thompson et al. shows that the display of the company name and country in the URL bar when the website is using an Extended Validation TLS certificate does not add any additional security parameters. One of the biggest downsides with this approach is that it requires the user to notice the absence of the EV indicator on a malicious site. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that EV certificates with colliding entity names can be generated by choosing a different jurisdiction.

As a result, we will relocate the EV indicator to the “Site Information” panel that is accessed by clicking on the lock icon. This change will hide the indicator from the majority of our users while keeping it accessible for those who need to access it. It also avoids ambiguities that could previously arise when the entity name in the URL bar was cut off to make space for the URL.

Adding a new Protections Icon

The protections icon will be the entry point for the privacy properties of every page. It lets the user know about trackers or cryptominers on the page and how Firefox restricts them to improve privacy and performance. The icon will have 3 different states.

Protections Enabled
When no tracking activity is detected and protections are not necessary, the shield shows in grey.

Protections Active
When protections are active on the current page, the shield displays a very subtle animation and adopt the purple gradient.

Protections Disabled
When the user has disabled protections for the site, the shield shows with a strike-through.

We are excited to roll out this improved new UI and will continue to evolve the indicators to give Firefox users an easy way to assess their privacy and security anywhere on the modern web.

A big thank you to all the individuals that contributed to this effort.
Click to expand...

Source: Improved Security and Privacy Indicators in Firefox 70 | Mozilla Security Blog

:)

malware · Oct 16, 2019

Firefox 2.0.0.12 Security and Stability Update Released

As part of Mozilla’s ongoing stability and security update process, Firefox 2.0.0.12 is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux for free download here. This update is strongly recommended for all Firefox users. For a list of changes and more information, please review the Firefox 2.0.0.12 Release Notes.

Source: Mozilla

hellrazor · Oct 16, 2019

Survey Reveals Companies' Early Windows 8 Reactions and Plans

70% of respondents indicated their organizations are already fully on, or in process of moving to Windows 7, suggesting that their organizational environments are or will soon be ready to make the next move – to Windows 8.

Click to expand...

Bull fucking shit.

Brink · Oct 16, 2019

Evolving security indicators for Google Chrome

Previously, we posted a proposal to mark all HTTP pages as definitively “not secure” and remove secure indicators for HTTPS pages. HTTPS usage on the web has taken off as we’ve evolved Chrome security indicators. Later this year, we’ll be taking several more steps along this path.

Users should expect that the web is safe by default, and they’ll be warned when there’s an issue. Since we’ll soon start marking all HTTP pages as “not secure”, we’ll step towards removing Chrome’s positive security indicators so that the default unmarked state is secure. Chrome will roll this out over time, starting by removing the “Secure” wording and HTTPS scheme in September 2018 (Chrome 69).

Chrome treatment for HTTPS pages

Previously, HTTP usage was too high to mark all HTTP pages with a strong red warning, but in October 2018 (Chrome 70), we’ll start showing the red “not secure” warning when users enter data on HTTP pages.

Chrome 70 treatment for HTTP pages with user input

We hope these changes continue to pave the way for a web that’s easy to use safely, by default. HTTPS is cheaper and easier than ever before, and unlocks powerful capabilities -- so don’t wait to migrate to HTTPS! Check out our set-up guides to get started.

Posted by Emily Schechter, Product Manager, Chrome Security
Click to expand...

Source: https://blog.chromium.org/2018/05/ev...ndicators.html

Windows 10: Improved Security and Privacy Indicators in Firefox 70

Improved Security and Privacy Indicators in Firefox 70

Improved Security and Privacy Indicators in Firefox 70

Improved Security and Privacy Indicators in Firefox 70

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