Firefox Encrypted

EFF announces Web encryption add-on for Firefox

By Ryan Paul | Last updated June 18, 2010 8:06 AM

The EFF has announced the availability of a new Firefox add-on called HTTPS Everywhere. As the name implies, it forces the browser to use a secure connection when the user visits a supported Web site.

Although many Web sites support SSL, it isn't always used by default, which means that users are sometimes exposed to the risk of snooping and data interception by unauthorized third parties. The add-on aims to mitigate that risk by directing users to HTTPS URLs whenever it is possible. The add-on currently works with several popular destinations on the Internet, including search engines and social networking Web sites. Users can configure their own sets of rules to enable the feature on additional sites.

The underlying code in the add-on was partially derived from the Strict Transport Security implementation from the well-known NoScript add-on. The HTTPS Anywhere add-on was designed to be easier to use and configure. The add-on is available for download from the official EFF blog.

This Firefox extension was inspired by the launch of Google's encrypted search option. We wanted a way to ensure that every search our browsers sent was encrypted. At the same time, we were also able to encrypt most or all of the browser's communications with some other sites:

• Google Search
• Wikipedia
• Twitter and Identi.ca
• Facebook
• EFF and Tor
• Ixquick, DuckDuckGo, Scroogle and other small search engines
• and lots more!

"Memento mori"

(Me)