a4apphack

AdBlock is one of the most popular browser extension that prevents ads or annoying page elements those are usually displayed in any webpage. It works by matching the pattern of unwanted elements in the page with what is available in its database and filters them.

Adblock can be made more efficient by adding custom patterns for the elements to be filtered.. This feature of AdBlock can be extended to block not only the ads but also the malicious content those are injected in seemingly genuine sites. This is done by adding MalwareDomains subscription to our Adblock preferences. MalwareDomain contains a list of domains that are known to be used to propagate malware and spyware. Adblock verifies whether there are any cross domain content loaded from any of malicious websites present in that list and if there is, then it blocks those elements.

Note: Subscribing to this list can increase the load time of the site. Increase in security at the cost of slight reduction in performance.

Here, we illustrate the steps to add the MalwareDomain list to our Adblock addon available for Chrome and Firefox browsers.

I. Adding MalwareDomain Subscription in Chrome

Download Adblock for Chrome here.

1. Access the AdBlock Options from the Chrome Extensions page and add MalwareDomains URL (http://malwaredomains.lanik.us/malwaredomains_full.txt)

2. Entered URL will now display in the subscriptions list. Make sure that its checked.

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It is the revolution of web browsers; they rule internet now. Browsers have evolved so much from what we had seen during the days of IE6. Now Firefox, Chrome, Opera, IE are on war to prove who is the best. They try different ways to win the heart of users; Firefox took a great leap by introducing the ‘panaroma’ feature – focus on multitasking, chrome gets appreciation for its fluid design – focus on simplicity & ease of use, Opera and IE has browser stability on priority – focus on robustness.

During this evolution, some browsers tries to standout from others by introducing a new feature which had never been available in any of their counterparts. But the other browsers instead wait for the users comments on the new feature implemented, if appreciated, they implement the same feature in theirs, may be in a better way. The browser who introduced that feature first might even loose its credit in due course. User is forced to switch from their  favorite browser for a ‘single feature’ they found useful in the ‘other’ browser. Once they completely switch and get used to the new browser, the old one brings out the same feature plus few bonus features. This cycle never ends. Firefox introduced tabs and extensions when IE did not have in them, people were attracted to it and finally switched to firefox. Then the light weight chrome came with Tab tearing, web apps, new tab page with speed dial and many other features, made few users to make chrome as their default browser. Firefox then inherited few of chromes’ features, syncing and expose like tab candy/panaroma effects. We don’t have to switch browsers just for UI features, and if at all we do, it should be seamless.

This article tries to identify best features in each of the browser and the features we expect to be part any modern browser. Here, we try to baseline few ideas, those ideas which takes browser design to the next level.

Browser Main Screen (Mockup)

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Google has launched Secure Google search hosted on SSL lately . This post talks on how to enable this Secure Google search to the browser search bar/search suggestions in Firefox, Chrome and IE browsers.

Updated: Added Screenshots for IE

1. Firefox

Go to the Mozilla Addons Page and add Google SSL Search Plugin

Select ‘Start using it right away in the dialog box that displays – Add “Google SSL” to the list of engines available in the search bar?

2. Chrome

Right Click on Chrome Omnibar(Address bar) and Select ‘Edit Search Engines’.

In the Edit Search Engines Dialog box add https://www.google.com/search?q=%s in the URL field and click on Make Default Button.

Dont forget to check the Chrome Extensions List for Security Testers, here (Internal Post)

3. Internet Explorer

• Access the Add Search Providers page

• In the Create Your Own enter https://www.google.com/search?q=TEST in the URL field

Click on the Install Button to see the following screen. Check the ‘Make this my default search provider’

Now the Search box in IE will display Google.

via Google Blog and TechDows

HTML5 is a new and upcoming technology which has enough features to introduce potential security issues if not properly implemented. A new project has been initiated in Google Code to keep developers updated on the security concerns to be kept in mind while developing their apps with HTML5.

Description of Project in Authors Terms,

This project is an attempt to create a well maintained, informative and categorized cheat sheet to highlight HTML5 as well as other client side and related security issues and ways to avoid them. The project is meant to target web developers as well as security researchers and especially browser vendors since many of the problems we found are based on faulty or quirky implementations. Focus is on completeness, comprehensibility and timeliness as well as continuity – benefits many other related cheat sheets don’t exactly provide.

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Translate any page on the fly in a single click by using a simple bookmarklet. Entire page is translated without a need of reload and it happens in real time. The best part is that ‘Automatic Language Detection’ is enabled by default, so all you have to do is to click on Translate button in the ‘Google Translate’ bar displayed after opening the bookmarklet.

Click on the Translate and notice that the translation progress is displayed

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