Firefox Browser Settings, Configuration, and Add-Ons/Extensions for Privacy, Security, and OSINT Research

How I secure, privatize, and customize my Firefox browser to protect personal privacy and gather open source intelligence

Photo Credit: Kevin Beck

Introduction:

The Firefox web browser can be, in my opinion, the most private, secure, and productive way to browse the internet… but only when it’s configured properly.

This is my personal Firefox configuration. Much of the inspiration came from “Open Source Intelligence Techniques — 7th Edition” by Michael Bazzell (of IntelTechniques) and PrivacyTools.io.

For those of you willing to take the time to properly configure Firefox, and learn to use browser extensions, I believe this is the best way.

For those of you not willing to take the time, I highly recommend Brave Browser over Chrome, Safari, etc. as the best “out-of-the-box” alternative.

Preferences

General:

• Uncheck “Recommend extensions as you browse” and “Recommend features as you browse”
• Inside “Network Settings” click “Settings”
• Check “Enable DNS over HTTPS” (near the bottom)
• In “Use Provider” select “Cloudflare”
• Click “OK”

Home:

• Change “Homepage and new windows” and “New tabs” to “Blank page”

Search:

• Change “Default Search Engine” to DuckDuckGo
• Uncheck “Provide Search Suggestions” (which should uncheck all options below it)

Privacy & Security:

• Select “Strict” under “Content Blocking”
• Check “Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed”
• Under “Logins and Passwords” uncheck all options under “Ask to save Logins and pass
• Change “History” to “Firefox will use custom settings for history”
• Uncheck “Remember browsing and download history” and Remember search and form history”