Mozilla Issues Do-not-track Guide for Advertisers

by: admin - September 9th, 2011   Filed under: Safety, Security, Tech News Add Comment

Mozilla issued a Do Not Track Field Guide to encourage advertisers and publishers to implement do-not-track (DNT) functionality.

The guide contains tutorials, case studies and sample code to illustrate how companies use the DNT technology. Mozilla aims to inspire developers, publishers and advertisers to adopt DNT and wants to put the control over Internet tracking into the hands of users. The browser maker wants to put a stop to behavioral targeting and pervasive tracking on the Web.

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Download the Guide [PDF]

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DigiNotar Removal Follow Up – Mozilla Security

by: admin - September 4th, 2011   Filed under: Safety, Security, Tech News Add Comment

Earlier this week we revoked our trust in the DigiNotar certificate authority from all Mozilla software. This is not a temporary suspension, it is a complete removal from our trusted root program. Complete revocation of trust is a decision we treat with careful consideration, and employ as a last resort.

Three central issues informed our decision.


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Reactions to Mozilla’s BrowserID Proposal

by: admin - July 19th, 2011   Filed under: Reviews, Safety, Security, Tech News Add Comment

In July 2011, Mozilla announced an identity authentication mechanism based on email-addresses and digital signatures. Its intention is to embed the facility in Mozilla browser-functionality, and to provide an at least interim identity-server in the meantime.

On reading the ArsTechnica article (15 July 2011) that publicised the announcement, I felt a number of concerns about the initiative, and expressed them to Lauren Weinstein, and the comments were published on his Privacy Forum.

This document expands on my original expression of concern. It is based on a critical reading of ‘How BrowserID Works‘, of c. 3 July 2011, mirrored here [PDF].

It addresses firstly general concerns about any scheme of this nature, and then some specific concerns about BrowserID in particular.

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Mozilla Debates Whether to Trust Chinese CA

by: admin - February 18th, 2010   Filed under: Security, Tech News Add Comment

Sometimes geeky technical details matter only to engineers. But sometimes a seemingly arcane technical decision exposes deep social or political divisions. A classic example is being debated within the Mozilla project now, as designers decide whether the Mozilla Firefox browser should trust a Chinese certification authority by default.

Here’s the technical background: When you browse to a secure website (typically at a URL starting with “https:”), your browser takes two special security precautions: it sets up a private, encrypted “channel” to the server, and it authenticates the server’s identity. The second step, authentication, is necessary because a secure channel is useless if you don’t know who is on the other end. Without authentication, you might be talking to an impostor.

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After 5 Years, Firefox Faces New Challenges

by: admin - November 11th, 2009   Filed under: Tech News Add Comment

Five years ago, Mozilla made it clear that the browser wars weren’t over after all.

In the 1990s, Netscape had lost its dominance in the browser market to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, and the Netscape-spawned open-source project called Mozilla had sunk into obscurity. Even a federal antitrust suit accusing Microsoft of anti-competitive practices with its browser and Windows was not enough to turn the tide.

But on November 9, 2004, Firefox 1.0 emerged to fight back again.

The project, originally named Phoenix to symbolize rebirth from Netscape’s ashes, has now clawed its way back to account for nearly a quarter of the browser usage today. Microsoft may not be on the run, but it’s on the defensive, gradually building its browser development effort back up into fighting form.

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