security of your surfing activities.

Source: Browser plugins, 04/11/2020

Cybersecurity: data protection and privacy from hackers, spies, and the government
Simple steps can make the difference between losing your online accounts or maintaining what is now a precious commodity: Your privacy.
ZD Net â€` 31 October 2020
What is being done to protect this information?
What is GDPR?
General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is coming. Here`s what it means, how it`ll impact individuals and businesses.
Businesses that handle data belonging to their customers are being scrutinized more and more with the arrival of regulatory changes such as the EU`s General Data Protection Regulation, designed to create a level playing field and stipulate adequate security measures to protect consumer privacy and data.
Companies will often encrypt your information as part of the process, which is a way to encode information to make it unreadable by unauthorized parties.
One way this is achieved is by using SSL and TLS certificates that support encryption on website domains. While usually a paid service, Let`s Encrypt also offers free SSL/TLS certificates to webmasters who wish to improve their websites` security. (Unfortunately, this has also led to the adoption of SSL by fraudsters.)
Apple, Google, and Mozilla have gone against a CA/B Forum ballot and have decided to reduce the lifespan of TLS certificates to 398 days, starting September 1.
End-to-end encryption is also becoming more popular. This form of encryption prevents anyone except those communicating from accessing or reading the content of messages, including vendors themselves.
Following Snowden`s disclosure of the NSA`s mass surveillance activities, end-to-end encryption has been widely adopted by many online communication services. With a recent shift to working from home practices prompted by COVID-19, this has expanded to include video conferencing tools.
Privacy advocates may cheer, but governments and law enforcement agencies have not rejoiced at the trend -- and a political battlefield has emerged between tech vendors and governments that are attempting to enforce the inclusion of deliberate backdoors into encrypted systems.
It is up to us to make use of any privacy-enabling technology we have at hand. Below are some guides with simple steps to get you started.
Browser basics and Tor
Searching the web is a daily activity for many of us, and as such, it is also a hotbed for tracking and potential cyberattacks.
The most commonly-used browsers are Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Mozilla Firefox. However, you should consider using Tor if you want to truly keep your browsing private.
The Tor Project is an open-source browser that is privacy-focused. The software creates tunnels rather than establishing direct connections to websites, which prevents users from being tracked through traffic analysis or IP addresses.

Not to be confused with the Dark Web -- although required to access it and .onion domains in general -- Tor is legal and is often used by the privacy-conscious, including journalists, activists, civil rights groups, and NGOs.
The Tor browser can be slightly slower than traditional browsers, but it is still the best choice for secure browsing. The non-profit recently launched a membership program to secure funding and boost integration in third-party products.
Desktop and mobile versions of the Tor browser are also available: desktop, the iOS Onion Browser, and Orbot: Tor for Android.
Secure other browsers
If you are more comfortable using Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or another browser, there are still ways to improve your security without implementing major changes to your surfing habits.
Cookies: Clearing out your cookie caches and browser histories can prevent ad networks from collecting too much information about you. The easiest way to do so is to clear the cache
You can also set your preferences to prevent websites from storing cookies at all. In order to do so, check out these guides for Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari, and Edge.
HTTP v. HTTPS: When you visit a website address, you will be met with either Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). The latter option uses a layer of encryption to enable secure communication between a browser and a server.
The most important thing to remember is while HTTPS is best used by default in general browsing, when it comes to online purchases it is crucial to protecting your payment details from eavesdropping and theft.
It is still possible for payment details to be stolen on the vendor`s side, but to reduce the risk of theft as much as possible you should not hand over any important information to websites without HTTPS enabled. (It is estimated that shopping cart conversion rates increase by 13 percent with HTTPS enabled, which should encourage webmasters to use the protocol, too.)
To find out whether HTTPS is enabled, look in the address bar for `https://.` Many browsers also show a closed padlock.
Search engines
Google`s search engine, alongside other major options such as Yahoo! and Bing, make use of algorithms based on your data to provide `personalized` experiences. However, browsing histories and search queries can be used to create user profiles detailing our histories, clicks, interests, and more, and may become invasive over time.
To prevent such data from being logged, consider using an alternative that does not record your search history and blocks advertising trackers. These options include DuckDuckGo, Qwant, and Startpage.
If you wish to stay with your current browser you can also use
NoScript Security Suite: Endorsed by Edward Snowden as a means to combat government surveillance, this plugin has been built for Firefox and other Mozilla-based browsers for the purposes of disabling active content including JavaScript, which may be used to track your online activity. Users can also choose which domains to trust and whitelist.
Disconnect: Another worthy addition to the list, Disconnect provides a visual guide to websites that are tracking your activity. Invisible trackers that monitor you and may also expose you to malicious content can be blocked. Disconnect is available for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera.
Facebook Container: In a time where Facebook has come under fire for its data collection and sharing practices time after time, Mozilla`s Facebook Container application is a worthwhile plugin to download if you are worried about the social media network tracking your visits to other websites. The plugin isolates your Facebook profile and creates a form of browser-based container to prevent third-party advertisers and Facebook tracking outside of the network. While not bulletproof, this add-on is worth considering if you want to separate Facebook from the rest of your browsing activities.
Blur: Blur, available for Firefox and Chrome, is an all-around plugin to protect your privacy and security. While the add-on can be used as a password manager and generator, ad blocking, and encryption, the true value is the use of `masked cards` in the premium version of the software. When data breaches occur, financial information is often the target. With this plugin, however, throwaway virtual cards are used with online vendors in replacement for the direct use of your credit card data, keeping it safe should a cyberattack occur.
Privacy Badger: Last but certainly not least, the EFF`s Opera, Firefox, and Chrome-supporting plugin Privacy Badger is focused on preventing ad networks from tracking you. The software monitors third parties that attempt to track users through cookies and digital fingerprinting and will automatically block those which use multiple tracking techniques. The plugin also includes color-coded indicators of domain tracking scripts.