Beyond Chrome: Switch to these 6 obscure browsers for better security

There is at all times room for enchancment: The producers of the three main browsers Chrome, Edge, and Firefox have been engaged on the settings for information safety and safety for years.

New options are consistently being added to the corresponding choices and supply ever extra exact selections. This is as a result of the development is clearly transferring in the direction of extra safety towards monitoring and extra shielded privateness.

For many customers, nonetheless, the present browsers don’t go far sufficient. This is as a result of rather more is already technically attainable, as demonstrated by the big variety of extensions for higher information safety and nameless browsing on the web. They desire a browser that protects them from being spied on as they surf the web by default.

Over the previous few years, an entire collection of recent browsers have appeared that cater to those needs and embrace acceptable protecting measures. Most of them come from corporations that already deal with anonymity on the web. These embrace producers of antivirus instruments in addition to VPN suppliers and different search engines like google and yahoo.

Further studying: 50 antivirus and PC security terms everyone should know

Most of them use the identical open supply initiatives because the established producers for his or her supply materials: The Gecko engine from Mozilla Firefox, on which the Tor browser can also be based mostly, and the Chromium mission with the Blink engine, from which Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera, amongst others, have emerged.

For the producers, this has the benefit that they don’t have to fret about growing, sustaining, and servicing their very own aggressive rendering engine, which varieties the core of each browser.

In this text, we’ll introduce you to a very powerful new browsers and inform you what units them other than the established packages.

Duckduckgo Browser

Duckduckgo is named an alternative choice to the Google search engine that doesn’t save your search queries and doesn’t move on any information to promoting corporations.

The firm has additionally had browsers for Android and iOS in its program for a number of years. A beta take a look at for a Mac model started in 2022, and a beta for Windows has been out there for the reason that summer season of 2023. The program is presently solely out there in English.

According to Duckduckgo, the software program has been fully rewritten. Only the WebView2 rendering engine used comes from Microsoft; it’s the similar one that’s utilized in Edge. However, the corporate assures that information safety has been improved. Not even crash reviews are despatched to Microsoft.

Compared to Chrome & Co., the Duckduckgo browser is characterised by a considerably simpler monitoring block that takes impact as quickly as an internet site is opened. According to the producer, this system hundreds as much as 60 p.c much less information than Chrome, for instance, and is due to this fact considerably quicker.

This monitoring safety additionally consists of safety towards fingerprinting, i.e. the identification of the customer via {hardware} options and the put in software program. In addition, the built-in Duck Player for enjoying movies prevents the person from being tracked on YouTube.

The person can delete all saved cookies and different information at any time through a button. However, they will additionally exclude particular person pages by activating the so-called fireproofing mode for them.

In the browser settings, there may be additionally an choice to activate cookie administration, which robotically suppresses the annoying queries as as to if you need to permit cookies or not and units a minimal cookie acceptance stage.

Ghostery Private Browser

IDG

Ghostery is among the best-known browser extensions for blocking monitoring. The add-on is completely put in and lively within the Ghostery browser from the corporate of the identical title. According to the producer, it rejects monitoring makes an attempt as quickly as an internet site is opened, which ought to considerably velocity up the loading course of.

In addition, the set up routine asks whether or not the person additionally desires to change on the blocking of pop-ups that ask for a declaration of consent to set cookies.

The Ghostery browser is predicated on Firefox and has adopted most of its choices and default settings. For instance, information safety is about to the bottom stage “Standard” (or “Default Protection” — the Ghostery Private Browser is presently solely out there in an English model), the saving of internet sites visited and downloads made is switched on, location queries and entry to the digicam and microphone aren’t deactivated; as an alternative, this system asks the person for permission.

Further studying: Data brokers have your personal info. Here’s how to wipe it clean

Ghostery has additionally developed its personal search engine, which is designed to guard privateness higher than Google. It will be accessed at https://ghosterysearch.com and can also be built-in into the browser’s enter bar.

If you sort in a time period and ensure it with the Enter key, it presents the outcomes discovered. It will later additionally supply a seek for pictures and movies; nonetheless, these features haven’t but been carried out.

LibreWolf Browser

IDG

LibreWolf is one other model of Firefox that’s optimized for information safety, however gives a number of different language variations along with the English model, together with a German model. The performance and look are similar to the Mozilla browser, however there are additionally some particular options.

For instance, the adblocker Ublock Origin is pre-installed and lively. The web search within the tackle bar makes use of Duckduckgo as an alternative of Google like Firefox. Tracking safety, which will be set to a few ranges in Firefox, is about to full energy from the outset in LibreWolf.

A perform referred to as “Resist Fingerprinting,” or RSP for brief, is designed to make sure that the identification of the person through {hardware} and software program options involves nothing. Unfortunately, the builders haven’t carried out Firefox’s Safe Browsing perform, which gives consistently up to date safety towards phishing websites.

LibreWolf gives its customers the Firefox password supervisor, you simply should activate it within the “Settings.” The browser has even adopted Mozilla’s sync perform, so you possibly can synchronize your saved account information between your gadgets through the web.

The Norton browser

Avast

Avast took over AVG and Piriform, the producer of CCleaner. Norton Live Lock took over Avira and later Avast after which renamed itself Gen Digital. All of those corporations produce browser packages which can be very comparable other than a couple of particulars and are due to this fact mentioned collectively under. The merchandise from Avira and Norton are virtually an identical.

Avast Secure Browser, AVG Secure Browser, Avira/Norton Secure Browser, and CCleaner Browser are all based mostly on Chromium. In all 5 browsers, you possibly can entry a “Security and data protection center” through the icon bar to the fitting of the enter bar, which mixes varied safety features.

In the browsers of the antivirus producers, you will discover hyperlinks to the respective safety merchandise. There are additionally standardized features akin to “Privacy Protection,” which gives monitoring safety and an advert blocker.

Another function is “Web Protection,” which corresponds to Google Chrome’s Safe Browsing and warns towards phishing and different harmful websites.

A password supervisor can be accessed through the information safety heart — in 4 of the browsers talked about it’s the instrument included in Chrome, and solely Norton gives its personal supervisor in parallel.

IDG

There can also be an “Extension Guard,” which blocks the set up of untrusted extensions, and a perform referred to as “Private Mode,” which merely opens a window in Chrome’s incognito mode. Avast and AVG additionally supply a “Hack Check,” which checks whether or not your e-mail tackle seems in directories with hacked account information.

Other features akin to a “Bank Mode” require the set up of Avast Antivirus, or a “Secure Browser VPN,” which is hyperlinks to a industrial VPN supply.

Mullvad Browser

Mullvad is a Swedish VPN supplier that additionally launched a browser final 12 months. According to the corporate, it collaborated with the Tor mission throughout improvement. The result’s Firefox-based software program that makes use of Mullvad’s VPN as an alternative of Tor.

The most noticeable distinction to the unique Firefox is that Mullvad is at all times in personal mode by default, that means that cookies and different web site information are robotically eliminated when the browser is closed.

In addition, this system gives a perform referred to as “New identity,” which will be rapidly accessed through an icon within the toolbar. Click on it to shut all working browser situations and restart this system.

IDG

To shield anonymity on the net, Mullvad additionally comes with the monitoring blocker Ublock Origin, pretends to have a preset default system for fingerprinting queries and makes use of Duckduckgo by default for its search through the tackle bar.

Conclusion: One can persuade

With most of the browsers introduced, one will get the impression that they’re primarily supposed to spice up gross sales of the respective producer’s important product.

Many of their safety features can be upgraded individually through the Firefox and Chromium browser settings and the set up of some extensions.

Nevertheless, they aren’t ineffective, as they provide a ready-made safety bundle, particularly for newbies. Of the browsers we checked out for this text, Mullvad gives one of the best safety idea.

This article was translated from German to English and initially appeared on pcwelt.de.