Two New Products Tighten Firefox Security, Privacy

Anonymizer, a leading provider of Internet privacy and security products, plans tomorrow to release Anonymizer Total Privacy Suite, the first comprehensive identity protection product that works with Firefox, Mozilla’s popular open-source Web browser.

The new software, available for online purchase for US$59.95, safeguards Firefox users from spyware, keylogger software and online snooping programs. The suite integrates three Anonymizer programs — Anonymous Surfing, Anti-Spyware and digital shredding capabilities — into a single solution that protects Firefox users from hidden digital threats.

In a related move, FraudEliminator yesterday released FraudEliminator and FraudEliminator Pro for Internet Explorer and FireFox. Both software versions of FraudEliminator block users from fraudulent Web sites on the Internet and mark the first advanced anti-fraud tool for Mozilla’s FireFox browser.

Enhancing Firefox

FraudEliminator is a free download while FraudEliminator Pro costs $19.99. FraudEliminator Pro defends against all kinds of online fraud, including phishing, pharming and DNS exploits, and also shows information about each site visited, including where it is hosted and when the domain name was registered.

Lee Itzhaki, director of product management for Anonymizer, told LinuxInsider that many of his company’s product users were early adopters of Firefox and asked for a suite of security products that would harden the browser. As a result, Anonymizer combined three separate anti-intrusion products into one suite to protect Firefox users against phishing and spyware attacks and Internet tracking.

With these three essential Anonymizer identity protection tools integrated into the Web browser, Firefox users can easily add another layer of protection for their personal information when they are online.

“Although Firefox is a secure browser, users are still extremely vulnerable to ID theft on the Internet without Total Privacy Suite in place,” Itzhaki said. “Total Privacy Suite is similar to having a deadbolt on your front door. It provides great peace of mind for Web surfers, with one-click protection from spyware, phishers, pharmers and other online predators.”

Online Fraud

FraudEliminator is a free, advertising-free addition for FireFox and Internet Explorer to help protect users by automatically finding and blocking online fraud. Like an antivirus program for the Web, it retrieves new fraud definitions and fraudulent site lists on a constant basis and uses advanced detection algorithms to classify possible fraud.

In addition, FraudEliminator gives users an opportunity to fight back against online fraud by letting them report fraud incidents back to FraudEliminator’s central database.

“Many people think that if they get rid of phishing e-mails or just don’t click on links in e-mails, they’ll be safe,” Jeffrey Hellman, president of FraudEliminator, said. “But sadly, the severity of online fraud has increased. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of fraudulent Web sites that receive traffic via online advertising, search engines, malware and DNS exploits.”

Hellman said these threats do not just target online bank users. There are fraudulent Web sites that claim to sell products but never ship merchandise.

“We don’t just protect against phishing. We protect against fraud,” Hellman explained.

Anonymizer Product Highlights

Anonymizer Total Privacy Suite sits in the Firefox browser’s toolbar as three rows of display windows or buttons. When the browser is updated and users install a newer version of Firefox, the privacy suite remains in the new running browser version, Itzhaki said.

The first row displays the real IP address of the Web site being visited. The second button launches the anti-spyware module. The third button deletes surfing history.

When the Firefox browser is connected to the Internet, the privacy suite automatically updates the signature file database from Anonymizer’s server.

“Although there’s no such thing as perfect security on the Internet, Total Privacy Suite provides the highest level of identity protection available for Firefox users,” Itzhaki asserted.

How FraudEliminator Works

FraudEliminator maintains a real-time threat database that tracks identifying information about known online fraud threats. It updates automatically. To keep the database up to date, FraudEliminator has built a network of fraud incident collection points and a team of fraud analysts.

The software encourages users to report fraud incidents to FraudEliminator’s central monitoring center by clicking a “Fraud Report” button on their Web browser when they suspect foul play. The company’s analysts review and verify the reports and use the information to update the fraud database.

FraudEliminator has also developed a proprietary set of statistical algorithms designed to recognize signs of fraud. For example, a Web site claiming to be CitiBank but based in Moldova would be blocked as fraud.

FraudEliminator requires a Windows-compatible PC running Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000 or XP, and Internet Explorer 5+ or FireFox 1.0 or higher.

Pricing and Availability

The new Anonymizer Total Privacy Suite is available for $59.95 by visiting http://www.anonymizer.com/totalprivacy. The suite will also be offered at leading retail stores by the end of May.

The basic version of FraudEliminator is free. FraudEliminator Pro is available for $19.99 and delivers users more frequent fraud database updates.

FraudEliminator can be downloaded from http://www.fraudeliminator.com/download.htm.

Itzhaki said that more than 50 million computer users have downloaded Firefox in recent months. The free browser now has a 10 percent bite of the entire browser marketplace.