Mozilla has launched a free encrypted file transfer service dubbed Firefox Send that runs from any browser, with an Android app coming in beta later this week.
Firefox Send uses end-to-end encryption and offers a range of security controls that users can set, including when a file link expires, the number of downloads, and whether to add an optional password for an extra layer of security, Mozilla said.
The launch is an unusual foray into a market already heavily populated with free file-sharing services, ranging from WeTransfer to Dropbox.
Mozilla described it as “one of our popular Test Pilot experiments” however and, acknowledging there were other tools out there, emphasised its privacy, pointing to the company’s Private By Design page for further details.
Users can share file sizes up to 1GB without logging in and send files of up to 2.5GB, if they sign up for a free Firefox account, Mozilla said. (That’s up from WeTransfer’s free 2GB. WeSendIt offers up to 5GB for free).
Firefox Send: How Secure?
Mozilla’s “Private by Design” page refers primarily to its “Sync” tool but notes that Mozilla uses 1000 rounds of the password-hashing algorithm PBKDF2 to derive passphrases into a given authentication token.
“On the server, we additionally hash this token with scrypt (parameters N=65536, r=8, p=1) to make sure our database of authentication tokens is even more difficult to crack.”
Mozilla says it is working to strengthen this even further.
The new product “makes the sharing experience seamless for both parties, and as quick as sending an email” Mozilla said.
See also: Mozilla’s “Common Voice” Project Goes Multilingual
