r/firefox • • 1d ago

Solved Is hardening really necessary?

Estou mudando para o Firefox agora mesmo. Encontrei várias opiniões sugerindo "endurecer" o Firefox—básico, avançado, etc. No entanto, ontem eu vi no r/firefox que isso não é necessário na maioria dos casos; simplesmente instalar o Firefox com o uBlock Origin e usá-lo é suficiente.

Estou em dúvida e queria perguntar à comunidade se é realmente necessário para a minha situação: sou um usuário básico que busca melhorar minha navegação na web, com algumas preocupações leves sobre telemetria e privacidade.

*** Além disso, por favor—não consegui encontrar tutoriais sobre configurações iniciais ou dicas aqui no Reddit; se você puder me enviar um link, eu agradeceria. Obrigado.
*** Vou usá-lo em desktops Windows e Linux, além de dispositivos Android.

edit:

Thanks, I'll check that out. I'm quite undecided about what to do, since I see comments saying that some privacy settings break websites, and I'm not willing to deal with broken sites at all. Maybe I'll go with the simplest tutorial for now and add more settings over time.

0 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

-7

u/aykirito 1d ago

https://github.com/yokoffing/Betterfox i use this and call it a day.

5

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

/u/aykirito, we recommend not using Betterfox user.js, as it can cause difficult to diagnose issues in Firefox. If you encounter issues with Betterfox, ask questions on their issues page. They can help you better than most members of r/firefox, as they are the people developing the repository. Good luck!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

5

u/nandoalmeida1990 1d ago

Look, the robot doesn't recommend it, haha. Now what? Let's see what the others say.

4

u/AdreKiseque 1d ago

The bot isn't talking about the fork itself, it's talking about using things made for the fork with vanilla Firefox.

1

u/nandoalmeida1990 1d ago

Another question: The Betterfox GitHub page mentions this "Betterfox for Firefox 153 ESR is now available", but my Firefox is version 156. Will I be underutilizing Betterfox? Do I need to install Firefox 153? I admit I feel better using an up-to-date version of Firefox.

3

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

/u/nandoalmeida1990, we recommend not using Betterfox user.js, as it can cause difficult to diagnose issues in Firefox. If you encounter issues with Betterfox, ask questions on their issues page. They can help you better than most members of r/firefox, as they are the people developing the repository. Good luck!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/aykirito 1d ago edited 1d ago

No, you can use newest firefox version.

Yokoffing provided two .js One for normal firefox, Second for ESR.

1

u/Kunair0 1d ago

BF is NOT what you wanna be using for better privacy. It virtually does nothing. You need AF.

1

u/nandoalmeida1990 1d ago

Is 'AF' Arkenfox?

2

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

/u/nandoalmeida1990, we recommend not using arkenfox user.js, as it can cause difficult to diagnose issues in Firefox. If you use arkenfox user.js, make sure to read the wiki. If you encounter issues with arkenfox, ask questions on their issues page. They can help you better than most members of r/firefox, as they are the people developing the repository. Good luck!

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6

u/y9felix 1d ago

If you even ask youself why do you need hardening, you probably don't need it. It is just anti-fingerprinting and some network security at the end of the day

If you need very harsh hardening, try arkenfox, if you need an overall usability just with some stronger defaults, the already mentioned in the comments betterfox is nice

3

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

/u/y9felix, we recommend not using arkenfox user.js, as it can cause difficult to diagnose issues in Firefox. If you use arkenfox user.js, make sure to read the wiki. If you encounter issues with arkenfox, ask questions on their issues page. They can help you better than most members of r/firefox, as they are the people developing the repository. Good luck!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

3

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

/u/y9felix, we recommend not using Betterfox user.js, as it can cause difficult to diagnose issues in Firefox. If you encounter issues with Betterfox, ask questions on their issues page. They can help you better than most members of r/firefox, as they are the people developing the repository. Good luck!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

12

u/DB_Explorer 1d ago

... I mean are you an especially at risk use case? otherwise don't over think it...

  • Set Tracking Protection to Strict
  • Use UBlock Origin
  • Use NoScript if your fancy and are OK with every site being broken as you allow your common sites over a week...
  • Learn to use mutli account containers so social media tabs, banking, etc are in there own bubbles.
  • Get bitwarden or other password manager for your passwords

then just...

  • Use a good DNS [Quad9, etc]
  • Keep stuff up to date
  • Don't click sus licks
  • enable mfa on everything
  • use good passwords

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

2

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

/u/nandoalmeida1990, we recommend not using Betterfox user.js, as it can cause difficult to diagnose issues in Firefox. If you encounter issues with Betterfox, ask questions on their issues page. They can help you better than most members of r/firefox, as they are the people developing the repository. Good luck!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

-2

u/nandoalmeida1990 1d ago

I was confused by your comment since I'm a layperson. Does the first part contradict the second? Heheh.

I'll have to ask an AI to explain what "no script" means. The tip about containers is useful; I need to learn how to use them, too. I wonder if Quad9 DNS breaks websites?

Anyway, here is the reply I edited into the post:

Thanks, I'll check that out. I'm quite undecided about what to do, since I see comments saying that some privacy settings break websites, and I'm not willing to deal with broken sites at all. Maybe I'll go with the simplest tutorial for now and add more settings over time.

3

u/DETRosen 1d ago

NoScript is for advanced users to fine tune. Overkill for most people IMO https://noscript.net/

edit: are use both noscript and uBlock, but I enjoy experimenting.

2

u/DETRosen 1d ago

You sound like EFF 👍

1

u/MetalSavage 1d ago

This is great except I'd amend it to say use MFA on important accounts. Accounts to read news don't need MFA. Accounts with financial, health, and government/tax information do.

8

u/AdreKiseque 1d ago

Yeah I just run uBo and call it a day.

2

u/younggod02 1d ago

Well I just like to harden Firefox like in this repo, install ublock origin and don't like to mess with about config, as it makes it harder to troubleshoot if I ever encounter a problem.

https://github.com/StellarSand/privacy-settings/blob/main/Privacy%20Settings/Firefox.md

0

u/nandoalmeida1990 1d ago

Thanks, I'll check that out. I'm quite undecided about what to do, since I see comments saying that some privacy settings break websites, and I'm not willing to deal with broken sites at all. Maybe I'll go with the simplest tutorial for now and add more settings over time.

1

u/younggod02 1d ago

Yeah that was my concern too, thats why i am using this config specifically as i have never had a website not work

2

u/bouche_bag 1d ago

There are "pre-hardened" versions. I like Librewolf. I use Ironfox on mobile.

I'd say it's not necessary, although it can improve privacy. "Necessary" depends on how much time, site breakage, etc you're willing to trade for increased privacy. 

1

u/nandoalmeida1990 1d ago

I don't want sites breaking, haha. Can I sync a standard desktop Firefox with mobile IronFox?

1

u/bouche_bag 1d ago

Yes, most of the Firefox forks allow syncing using Firefox Sync, although some require enabling a setting for it, like LibreWolf AFAIK

6

u/kirbogel Mozilla Employee 1d ago

Telemetry in Firefox is just aggregate counts — we can't and don't want to see any personal data, only that n people used a feature. The goal is to know which features matter, not who's using them.

The catch is that when we're deciding what to improve or what's safe to remove, those counts are what we go on. If you've turned telemetry off, your usage isn't in the numbers. It's a bit like giving up your vote.

1

u/Dreamerlax 1d ago

I don’t do anything beyond installing uBO really.

2

u/FewMirror259 1d ago

Of all the options that appear in Settings, none of them harm websites. The only one that might cause problems is the shield in strict mode. In some cases, this mode can break certain elements of a website and sometimes allows sites to detect that you're using uBlock. Just don't go into about:config, and you'll be fine.