Men in Proxy Blog

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Ways to test the Firefox 23 changes on the unsecured content

Posted on: May 20th, 2013

Ways to test the Firefox 23 changes on the unsecured contentSSL is one of the most popular protocols which helps in ensuring that the transactions which are made on the web are safe. While most users are ignorant about the principles of such protocols, they definitely know how to look for the icon on their URLs. The use of SSL ensures that the personal information such as bank details, personal contact details, etc. is encrypted with the help of these protocols and anyone one who might be peeking into the system will not be able to get access to such details. However, most web pages contain mixed content, i.e., a secure site which also includes assets such as images, scripts, etc. which come from unsecured locations. As a result, the users do gain knowledge that they might be entering into an unsecure transaction. However, there is no way of determining which aspect of the site is not secure.

The Firefox 23 version plans to deal with this issue by simply not allowing such situations to occur. The existing versions do include an option to block the unsecured content on the encrypted web pages. However, the latest version which is to be launched on 17th May shall simply make this option to default. One of the main advantages of the Firefox 23 is that it is much better in terms of security. Since mixed content includes links from numerous unsecured locations, a system becomes prone to multiple attacks. Thus by completely blocking such content, it completely eradicates the user interface issues and makes the content a lot more secure.

There are various ways of testing this change. One of the simplest ways is to use the about: config URL in the existing version of the Firefox and searching for the “security. mixed_content.block_active_content” key. By changing the option to “True” users can set their browsers to block the mixed content. Thus, with very little time remaining before the launch of the latest versions, ideally users should run a check on their own contents to make sure that your sites do not break.


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