The importance of a secure web browser comes with the ability to be able to browse the internet across a selection of devices securely.
Many browsers are also now embedded with a privacy mode which delivers security and privacy efficiently.
In order to protect your privacy while browsing the internet, CBR lists the best secure web browsers.
Google Chrome
Google Chrome has reigned as one of the top web browsers for its security features for a long while, and with its consistent updates its position remains unbeaten.
The browser includes a number of features to support increased security delivery for users with settings that help protect computers from attacks such as spyware, malware and other viruses. It also supports the protection of private information.
Read more: What is Chrome?
The featured tools which can be used to adjust security settings include Malware protection settings which help to protect the browser against malware attacks. This feature is automatically enabled into the browser but users can disable it if they so wish.
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Secondly is Google Chrome’s Pop ups feature which helps to prevent viruses entering the browser via website pop-ups. The browser will automatically notify users when there is a pop-up expected to appear, but can be disabled at any time via settings.
Other security features include Password manage and Cookies settings which enables users to adjust settings as they wish regarding saved passwords and cookies.
Google Chrome is available for Windows, Mac and Linux desktops and Android and iOS phones or tablets.
Microsoft Edge
As of 2016, Microsoft Edge was listed as one of the best web browsers available for protecting Windows 10 users from phishing attempts and social engineering attacks.
From a test held at NSS Labs, Microsoft Edge was the only browser to score over 90 percent in a test of over 5,000 malware samples and almost 1,000 phishing URLs.
Only available on Windows 10, Edge was developed to replace Internet Explorer as the default browser. The browser uses a sandbox to help separate the internet from the operating system, offering stronger security against hacks to the system.
It also offers a SmartScreen feature to help users identify reported phishing and malware websites, as well as support for making decisions about downloads.
The feature analyses pages to identify whether they may be suspicious and displays warnings for users if a suspicious page is found. It also checks sites against a list of all reported phishing and malicious software sites.
Can open source web browsers really be as secure as others – see what Firefox is doing on the next page.
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free open source web browser that is available with a number of several add-ons, some of which are designed specifically for security and privacy when browsing the web.
The browser, which is available on Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux and Mac OS X, offers a smaller footprint than other browsers and is also more lightweight, offering fewer features and less code – leading to a reduction in the attack surface.
Being the only web browser that is fully open-source, it provides benefits such as dedicated privacy. This enables the user to be aware of the programming features and also means that hackers are unable to access or hide any unwanted viruses in the system.
In 2016, Firefox was detailed as the last widely used browser to not use a browser sandbox to assist in separating web content from the rest of the system. Although, the latest version (Version 50) includes a limited sandbox which removes this process and is to be enhanced to improve its security.
Opera
Opera is a web browser available on Windows, Mac OS and Linux operating systems. The browser uses sandboxes for browsing and all other security features that are available in Chromium.
The browser is known to patch security vulnerabilities faster than other browsers, with regular updates of new security features added before its competitors.
One of its security features enables users to delete private data such as cookies, browsing history and items in cache and passwords, giving users the opportunity to erase all personal data after browsing from a shared computer.
It also implements a proprietary protocol from Google called ‘safe browsing’ to check websites used against a blacklist for phishing and malware.
Safari (Mac only)
Safari is a web browser designed by Apple which runs on Windows, OS X and all other Apple devices.
This browser is fully open-source and automatically prompts users for approval before downloading files to prevent some high-risk files from being executed.
Safari on Mac OS X systems also provides a password protection feature by Apple’s Keychain password management system.
Apple’s safari uses sandboxing for websites to provide built-in protection against malicious code and malware by restricting what websites can do.
Overall, Apple releases continuous security updates, but for users’ protection doesn’t disclose, discuss or confirm security issues.
