The most SECURE browser?

[Wordsworth]

What ever browser you choose it's only as safe as the way it is being used.
If one starts using P2P and Torrents ect. then the door to bad things is open. One must be careful what one ticks on.
I also use MSE and Malwarebytes Pro to help keep me safe.
If I forget to keep my brain updated I will also get in trouble.

Agreed Bear. To me security is 1. The end user being smart. 2. Anti-virus. 3. Anti-malware. 4. Some form of virtualization (I use Shadow Defender). But keeping the brain engaged is #1. Be reckless or asleep at the keyboard and luck is the very thin ice between a clean system and an infected one.

 

[exitPr0gram]

What ever browser you choose it's only as safe as the way it is being used.
If one starts using P2P and Torrents ect. then the door to bad things is open. One must be careful what one ticks on.
I also use MSE and Malwarebytes Pro to help keep me safe.
If I forget to keep my brain updated I will also get in trouble.

Agreed Bear. To me security is 1. The end user being smart. 2. Anti-virus. 3. Anti-malware. 4. Some form of virtualization (I use Shadow Defender). But keeping the brain engaged is #1. Be reckless or asleep at the keyboard and luck is the very thin ice between a clean system and an infected one.

I agree. I've seen so many user's click "Agree, Next, Next, Next" when installing stuff or fall for the old "Your browser is outdated and vulnerable to viruses click here to fix".

Takes a little experience to spot these things but at the same time this stuff starts to look more and more like the real thing.

Since i've started this thread you guys have provided several different programs that i am interested in trying out. I will be trying out the Shadow Defender now, as well!

Thanks!!

 

[Joan Archer]

I've just downloaded Pale Moon, not sure yet what I think of it as I've not tested it out enough, I've always been an IE user and never had problems. But I've tried to be sensible about where I go plus I've got MalwareBytes Pro, MSE and I have WOT installed.

 

[JBmorris]

Golden, i also use comodo dragon. better security.

 

[nottaclue9]

Since Microsoft issued a statement about IE not being safe at the moment, I have been trying to figure out what browser to use as instead. I immediately decided against Chrome when I couldn't figure out how to put anything on the page (favorites, etc.) without having to copy all my information manually from IE. Likely this is not Chrome's fault, but my usual cluelessness... After having read these posts, I'm still not sure which browser to use. PC Mag rates Chrome the highest, but I trust you guys more than I trust them. I am willing to add on security, etc., but I really need a Browser for Dummies. Suggestions?

 

[exitPr0gram]

Since Microsoft issued a statement about IE not being safe at the moment, I have been trying to figure out what browser to use as instead. I immediately decided against Chrome when I couldn't figure out how to put anything on the page (favorites, etc.) without having to copy all my information manually from IE. Likely this is not Chrome's fault, but my usual cluelessness... After having read these posts, I'm still not sure which browser to use. PC Mag rates Chrome the highest, but I trust you guys more than I trust them. I am willing to add on security, etc., but I really need a Browser for Dummies. Suggestions?

Chrome is extremely easy to use and is naturally secure. There are extensions you can add to increase the security even more.

When you say you couldn't figure out how to "put anything on the" page what page did you mean? Your home page? That is easy. You can have Chrome with either 1 home page or a lot more.

Start by going to your home page. In the top right hand corner, clicking the 3 lines button (Hover your mouse over it and it should say "Customize and Control Chrome") will brings you to a list where you click "Settings" At the settings page where the "On Start" settings are found this is exactly what your looking for.

If you want my honest opinion, Chrome is the way to go.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Team VUPEN is $100,000 richer because of Chrome's flaws in this year's pwn2own.

But you are correct, Chrome is less likely to have flaws because it does so much less than IE (in terms of communicating with other apps).

 

[carwiz]

Google?s Chrome browser ?blindly? trusting Heartbleed affected sites - SlashGear

And another

http://arstechnica.com/security/201...tbleed-hacked-sites-called-completely-broken/

 

[Callender]

Mitigation for IE vulnerability (current)

Since Microsoft issued a statement about IE not being safe at the moment, I have been trying to figure out what browser to use as instead. I immediately decided against Chrome when I couldn't figure out how to put anything on the page (favorites, etc.) without having to copy all my information manually from IE. Likely this is not Chrome's fault, but my usual cluelessness... After having read these posts, I'm still not sure which browser to use. PC Mag rates Chrome the highest, but I trust you guys more than I trust them. I am willing to add on security, etc., but I really need a Browser for Dummies. Suggestions?

Take a look at this post

http://www.sevenforums.com/security...bson-s-take-ie-s-0day-attack.html#post2761676

Look at the article mentioned and apply the fix.

On my machine I had to run this instead:

regsvr32 -u "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VGX\VGX.dll"

regsvr32 -u "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\microsoft shared\VGX\VGX.dll"

Applied - even though I rarely use IE.

Edit: If you must use Chrome take a look at Aviator mentioned by A.Guy earlier in this thread or

https://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php

Then at least you can make an informed decision!

 

[A Guy]

EMET also protects against this latest, and the last they had. It causes no issues for me, hardly know it's there after setup.

The Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit

A Guy

 

[nottaclue9]

Thank you, Callender & A Guy. Two very good options. Will save me a lot of headache.

 

[exitPr0gram]

Hi,
Yea I don't get the need for all of the third party add-ons either ?
But with Chrome you might as well tell it what you don't want it to run because it's famous for running everything/ that's not necessarily a good thing

Personally I have two add-ons Flash and wm player,
And disable them when not in use,
Internet explorer 10 or 11 using 64 bit processes is about as safe as it gets in my book but I don't even use 64 bit processes to feel safe but I know it's there
But to each his/ her own,
Security starts with a decent antivirus/ Malware protection/ Spyware protection which are user friendly and windows friendly,
Too many add-ons = mass confusion if issues arise

Thanks again man. Aviator is now my browser of choice.

 

[exitPr0gram]

Try Comodo Dragon.....a Chrome/Chromium fork with more privacy.

COMODO Browser is good. Honestly, it seems a lot like Whitehat Aviator but my main concern is the amount of system resources that the browser will use. I'm sure it wont use a lot since its based off Chrome/Chromium.

Why use a browser that requires all those add-ons when you can have one with all those features built in? And, you don't need 10 drivers running all the time.

What browser are you using that doesn't have all those add-ons? Most browsers do not have extensions like "Zenmate' And "Adblock" or "Adblock Plus" built in...

My take is that there is no really safe browsing in Windows. I operate most times from a Linux Mint virtual machine on the internet. There I use Firefox, Chromium and Opera. But since Linux is very safe, I don't have to worry about the browser capabilities in that regard.

I agree. You can't just get a browser and expect it to protect you from everything its just a preventative method to help filter out the bad stuff. Actually, i do not install Java (which has major security exploits) unless i absolutely have to in order to use/view something important.

Be aware, that a browser set up to be most secure will take more steps to view videos, etc. as these elements will be blocked by default. You have to allow most things. Like a firewall, this is great if you don't just click accept for everything to stop the nagging. take a look at Aviator, a Chromium based browser.

WhiteHat Releases Aviator Browser for Windows | Threatpost | The first stop for security news

https://www.whitehatsec.com/aviator/

A Guy

Thanks again for this recommendation.

To this day it is the browser that i use and the support team replies extremely quick. Although, I think Chrome MUST be installed prior to installing Aviator. I did a buddies computer and he got an error every time he opened Aviator (At work so can't give an exact quote). It would still function, but with an error. I'm guessing Chrome not being installed beforehand must have something to do with it. Although, he had not installed any of the Windows updates (On a fresh install from an OLD pre-SP1 Windows disc)

 

[carwiz]

What browser are you using that doesn't have all those add-ons? Most browsers do not have extensions like "Zenmate' And "Adblock" or "Adblock Plus" built in...

I hope my connection stays up long enough to answer but IE-11 has that and more built in. That's one of the reasons I'll never be convinced to veer away from MS IE. I've stuck with it and haven't had a problem with malware since going to Windows 7 and MSE. If folks would educate themselves on the options within IE and the built in options in Windows 7, the rest of the browsers would end up like Kaypro computers. The false sense of security offered by adding more software and testimony of the uninformed just prolongs the use of processor hogging software. But you can use whatever you want.

 

[exitPr0gram]

What browser are you using that doesn't have all those add-ons? Most browsers do not have extensions like "Zenmate' And "Adblock" or "Adblock Plus" built in...

I hope my connection stays up long enough to answer but IE-11 has that and more built in. That's one of the reasons I'll never be convinced to veer away from MS IE. I've stuck with it and haven't had a problem with malware since going to Windows 7 and MSE. If folks would educate themselves on the options within IE and the built in options in Windows 7, the rest of the browsers would end up like Kaypro computers. The false sense of security offered by adding more software and testimony of the uninformed just prolongs the use of processor hogging software. But you can use whatever you want.

I appreciated your reply! If what you say is true then IE has moved up a couple points in my books

However, as i said i have chosen Whitehat Aviator, which is based off Chrome, as my main browser. It's main goal is security which is what this thread is about.

I have used IE before (Duh, it comes with Windows) but still had got the popups on sites, still found malware when running malwarebytes, etc.

This is why i've chosen Whitehat Aviator. It has its extensions and stuff.... But so does IE but if i'm not mistaken so does Internet Explorer only i think they call them "Add-ins" or something like that which provides the exact same "False sense of security" that you mentioned in your post.

Whitehat hasn't let me down although i haven't used it for long but it seems to do its thing well.. I can add the other extensions to it just fine (Zenmake, Disconnect, Adblock) for even more added protection. Call it what you will, but i don't think (those three) are a "False sense of security".

I wish there was some kind of "Benchmark Test" to compare browsers.

Also, i heard of some recent Internet Explorer 6 through 11 vulnerability here and i quote:

" Microsoft’s full security advisory goes into more detail, explaining that the vulnerability affects every version of the browser from Internet Explorer 6 through 11. FireEye says that most attacks are targeting IE9 through 11, which together account for more than 26 percent of the web browsers currently in use around the world. But when you add in IE versions 6 through 8, you’re talking about more like 56 percent. "

So i'm looking for something extremely effective yet unpopular and not well known.. Everyone knows about IE. It comes with Windows. So naturally it will be one of the most targeted browsers.

Besides... I'm not talking about "Settings" to secure my browser. Windows has "Settings" but is still more vulnerable than a Linux OS for the most part. I want a browser that is BUILT for security.

Settings have very little (if anything) to do with the exploits in a browser. Settings will not protect you from weak points in the program.

 

[carwiz]

Let me ask you something. How many entries do you have in your Host file? That will tell me how concerned you are about security. How many sites do you allow to use Flash? Are you using a 64-bit browser? Do you have enhanced security turned on? Do you have Windows Firewall turned on? How many entries have you put in the firewall?

Most answers to these questions will be; zero, all, don't know, what's that and who cares. Then they will complain that IE or Windows is unsafe. Yeah, right.

 

[carwiz]

Besides... I'm not talking about "Settings" to secure my browser. Windows has "Settings" but is still more vulnerable than a Linux OS for the most part. I want a browser that is BUILT for security.

You are misinformed. Linux/Unix has more current vulnerabilities than Windows. You just don't hear about them.

 

[exitPr0gram]

Let me ask you something. How many entries do you have in your Host file? That will tell me how concerned you are about security. How many sites do you allow to use Flash? Are you using a 64-bit browser? Do you have enhanced security turned on? Do you have Windows Firewall turned on? How many entries have you put in the firewall?

Most answers to these questions will be; zero, all, don't know, what's that and who cares. Then they will complain that IE or Windows is unsafe. Yeah, right.

i just got home and i'm about to sleep so i'm not going to dig up those numbers... Thanks for the sarcasm towards the end of all that, though... but you are talking about configuring Windows and Firewalls. Not browsers.

Enhanced security in Internet Explorer will protect you from the threats i listed in the link within my previous post affecting IE 6-11 or whatever it versions was. Again, that's a setting. Furthermore, how many people do you think did not have that setting enabled and got infected?

To sum it up: Secure out of the box. Which IE is NOT. IE Might be good. But honestly, IE is not what i'm looking for. I'm familiar enough with it to know that I like other browsers because they have a better "feel".

I understand that people get comfortable with a browser and configuring it, etc., and not really want to change browsers, maybe go as far as to say that's the only one that should be used.. But my question was "The most SECURE browser." and i guess i should have clarified that i don't want to configure it and do all this research to do it right like you did at one point to secure your IE. Or maybe you have your MCSE or maybe all of this just comes natural to you. This is not the case for me. I am studying a bit to get there though (Just A+ so far, Network+, Security+, etc. afterwards)

No i do not use 64 bit browsers. The Aviator Browser (Which by the way is what this topic is about, Browsers) automatically blocks flash and asks you if you want to allow. When you want to allow, click, and your video or whatever it is starts like its nothing.

And i use COMODO Firewall and Zemana Anti-logger which, again, is unrelated to this thread. These things are not browsers.

I respect your opinion but i want something a browser that takes security in to consideration FIRST. Call me a script kiddy, but i want a program to do a certain thing and do it right, I don't want to know the entire genre of knowledge to configure it properly. When i get my certifications i'll configure it better than most out there, i'm sure.

Honestly, this type of question is almost like politics and religion in a way because the exploits for each browser change from day to day.

Show me some kind of benchmark vs Aviator. Quality of protection, Pros and Cons, etc., if your really trying to show me something that i don't already know about IE and if i'm convinced then I will be more than happy to switch to IE and configure it. Down side to that is every time i reformat or do a computer i need to do these configurations. On my main machine here at home, that's not a problem.

Besides... I'm not talking about "Settings" to secure my browser. Windows has "Settings" but is still more vulnerable than a Linux OS for the most part. I want a browser that is BUILT for security.

You are misinformed. Linux/Unix has more current vulnerabilities than Windows. You just don't hear about them.

I guess that was a bad example.

Linux requires major knowledge and know-how in order to tighten it up. If you know what your doing on a Linux machine then i'm sure you could make the Windows OS look like a really dirty petri dish under a microscope.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Aviator is a young browser (first released to the public late in 2013) and we don't have much 3rd party info about how it stands up in the real world. I've not seen it at any "find the flaws" competition.

The Aviator browser (in my opinion) is meant to draw attention to the services offered by the parent company. After hours of reading their blogs, I would never do business with them. (But I'll keep an eye on their browser.) Their style/hype of communicating things is worse than Chicken Little's and Steve Gibson's.

I cannot seem to find any specs for the Aviator browser. Which versions of TLS does it support? Which TLS version is in use by default?

I do understand what you are saying re: "out of the box" vs. changing settings for a browser. The only security related thing that I've done to IE11 is turn on EPM. My OS level security/privacy measures don't rely on IE's settings. There are things that I do with IE that no other browser can do. If they could, I would use them more

Maybe someday, I can overlook the hype that WhiteHat Security has churned out and feel comfortable using Aviator for important stuff. Until then, IE11 (64bit) is for important stuff, Pale Moon (64bit) for the not so important stuff and Chrome (32bit) is at the bottom of the heap.

I dislike adding things to browsers. The OS HOSTS file and OpenDNS takes care of all my browsers. I have a VPN that handles all traffic for the OS (not just the browser traffic like Zenmate is limited to).


Let us know how Aviator works for you. It will help others decide if/when Aviator is ready for prime time. I've installed it a few times this year into a virtual machine. Each time, this came up:

---------------------------
patch.exe - System Error
---------------------------
The program can't start because MSVCP100.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem. 
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

Installing Aviator again (per the error message above) just results in a different error message and then the install aborts. Sigh.


I've also uninstalled Aviator from a couple of real computers... each time, it broke html links for the browsers that remained. But uninstalling Chrome does that too from time to time.

To my surprise, Aviator works on Mozy.com. Mozy requires (required?) 3rd party cookies that hold info for cross domain single sign on between salesforce.com and mozy.com. This makes me wonder what I read about Aviator preventing those types of cookies.


As far as using a 64bit browser:
ASLR adds to the browser's security, but there are ways around it :-(

 

[exitPr0gram]

Aviator is a young browser (first released to the public late in 2013) and we don't have much 3rd party info about how it stands up in the real world. I've not seen it at any "find the flaws" competition.

The Aviator browser (in my opinion) is meant to draw attention to the services offered by the parent company. After hours of reading their blogs, I would never do business with them. (But I'll keep an eye on their browser.) Their style/hype of communicating things is worse than Chicken Little's and Steve Gibson's.

I cannot seem to find any specs for the Aviator browser. Which versions of TLS does it support? Which TLS version is in use by default?

I do understand what you are saying re: "out of the box" vs. changing settings for a browser. The only security related thing that I've done to IE11 is turn on EPM. My OS level security/privacy measures don't rely on IE's settings. There are things that I do with IE that no other browser can do. If they could, I would use them more

Maybe someday, I can overlook the hype that WhiteHat Security has churned out and feel comfortable using Aviator for important stuff. Until then, IE11 (64bit) is for important stuff, Pale Moon (64bit) for the not so important stuff and Chrome (32bit) is at the bottom of the heap.

I dislike adding things to browsers. The OS HOSTS file and OpenDNS takes care of all my browsers. I have a VPN that handles all traffic for the OS (not just the browser traffic like Zenmate is limited to).


Let us know how Aviator works for you. It will help others decide if/when Aviator is ready for prime time. I've installed it a few times this year into a virtual machine. Each time, this came up:

---------------------------
patch.exe - System Error
---------------------------
The program can't start because MSVCP100.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem. 
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

Installing Aviator again (per the error message above) just results in a different error message and then the install aborts. Sigh.


I've also uninstalled Aviator from a couple of real computers... each time, it broke html links for the browsers that remained. But uninstalling Chrome does that too from time to time.

To my surprise, Aviator works on Mozy.com. Mozy requires (required?) 3rd party cookies that hold info for cross domain single sign on between salesforce.com and mozy.com. This makes me wonder what I read about Aviator preventing those types of cookies.


As far as using a 64bit browser:
ASLR adds to the browser's security, but there are ways around it :-(

During installation i've receive no errors whatsoever. Although i did get some kind of error I can't remember exactly what it was but the MSVCP100.DLL message you mentioned sounds familiar. This occurred when i reformatted a friends computer and put Aviator on it. Not sure what that's about... I thought it might have related to with Chrome not being installed prior (That a requirement? Idk...), or the butt-load of Windows Updates not being installed.

So two reputable contributors on this forums have recommended IE11. If i wanted MAXIMUM protection/privacy what settings would I need to configure within IE11? The only thing is that if something doesn't work, and i want it to, i have to disable a setting, go back and see if it works, etc. Basically trial and error. I hate that.

Aviator seems to be configured for security out of the box with minimal configuration, however, i am not closed minded and i am open to trying other more "Secure" browsers whether it be IE11 or BS2012

So the comment you made about 64-bit browsers... do they add security or are they less secure, overall?

I wish i could afford a subscription to a VPN service for my entire PC's traffic but i can only do the free ones at this point. I'm broke as a joke

And how would i test a browser's security if i wanted to compare one to another? Is there a site for that? I'd like to find one that actually attacks the browser with some of the latest known exploits so i can see which one comes out on top.

Thanks in advance.