Solving The Privacy And Security Issue In Modern Desktop Web Browsers.

Greetings everyone!!
Hope you all are doing well. Today we will be discussing how you can configure your desktop web browsers for maximum privacy. Before we proceed, it is important for us to understand the difference between privacy, anonymity. Check this for more information. Note that all the tutorials are done on the latest version of web browsers so you may need to update your browsers to follow along with the tutorial. So without wasting any time, let’s get started.

In this blog, i will be covering about four main modern web browsers that are:

1. Mozilla Firefox.
2. Microsoft Edge.
3. Opera.
4. Google Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Go to Settings (Click on the ham burger menu located at the top right hand side >> Options >> Privacy & Security) and check mark the following:

A.) Under Browser Privacy, go to Enhanced Tracking Protection and select strict.

B.) Scroll down a little and select Always under Send websites a “Do Not Track” signal.

C.) Scroll down and select Block pop-up windows, Warn you when websites try to install add-ons.

2.) Head over to Search settings now and select your default search engine as DuckDuckGo.

3.) Head over to General >> (Scroll down) Network Settings >> Enable DNS over HTTPS and select custom option and add an encrypted DNS of your choice. Refer to this post from Hackersploit forum for guidance.

For better privacy, you can enable clear history when Firefox closes in Settings >> Options >> Privacy & Security >> History >> Use custom settings for history.

4.) Additionally, you can also select Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed in Cookies and Site Data under Privacy & Security menu.

5.) Also disable access to camera, location and microphone in Permissions menu.

Pro tip: You can type about:preferences#general directly in your Mozilla Firefox web browser search bar to access general settings under the Settings menu. Type about:preferences#privacy to access privacy related settings under the Settings menu and type about:preferences#search to access search related settings under Settings menu.

Also, never save your passwords in browser as they can be read by anyone in a clear text format.

Microsoft Edge:

1.) Go to Settings (Click on the three dots located at the top right hand side) >> Click on the three lines located on the top left hand side >> Privacy and Services >> Tracking Prevention, select strict.

A.) Scroll down a little and enable Send “Do Not Track” requests.

Other important options are already selected or disabled (Which needs to) by default in Microsoft Edge browser.

Tip: You can enable and set family group option under Family Safety according to your needs in Microsoft Edge web browser.

Opera:

1.) Go to Settings (Located at bottom left hand side) >> Advanced >> and enable the following settings under Privacy protection:

A.) Block ads and surf the web up to three times faster.

B.) Block trackers.

2.) Scroll down to the bottom and under Search engine category, select DuckDuckGo as your default search engine.

Tip: Always use VPN while surfing internet as Opera has an option for VPN by default which can be found by scrolling down to features option in browser settings.

3.) Use DNS over HTTPS and put the same encrypted DNS provider we used in Mozilla Firefox. Under browser menu (scroll down to the bottom) >> System >> Use DNS-over-HTTPS instead of the system’s DNS settings.

Google Chrome:

1. ) Head over to Settings (Click on the three dots located at the top right hand side) >> Privacy and Security >> (Scroll down a little) Security >> Safe browsing >> Enhanced protection.

2.) Scroll down and enable Use secure DNS under Advanced category. Select with: custom and enter your encrypted DNS provider like we did in Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge.

Tip: You can use Quad9 (9.9.9.9) encrypted DNS which is available by default in the custom option.

3.) Head over to the search bar located at the top in Settings menu (Not the URL bar) >> Search “Do not ” and enable Send a “Do Not Track” request with your browsing traffic.

4.) Now, head over to Search engine category >> under Search engine >> Search engine used in the address bar >> DuckDuckGo.

5.) Block/restrict access to camera, microphone and location. Head over to the Settings search bar and type “location” (Without commas) and select Site settings and block/restrict individually. Also block pop-ups option.

Tip: Go to Advanced >>Accessibility >> System >> Disable Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed.

Browser extensions i use for privacy and security:

1.) DuckDuckGo Privacy Tracker.

2.) AdBlock Plus.

3.) HTTPS Everywhere.

4.) uBlock Origin.

5.) User Agent Switcher.

→ You can easily find links to download these extensions for your web browser.

Brave Browser?
Some people would recommend to use Brave browser but it is a cryptocurrency mining software that uses your PC’s computational power to mine currencies. Note that this is what most people say and i haven’t personally used Brave browser yet as i am happy with Firefox browser.

Closing Note:
Thank you for staying up till now and reading the blog post. I hope you enjoyed this blog and learned something new. I will return with next blog on privacy and security soon. Stay happy and safe. I will be waiting for your suggestions regarding my blogs. You can connect with me on Twitter and send your suggestions there too.

Note that this blog is subject to changes in the future if anything more needs to be added. Keep coming back and take a look for updates on this blog.