JonDoFox - Security and Privacy for Firefox

JonDoFox is a Firefox browser profile/configuration particularly optimized for anonymous and secure web surfing. You may either integrate JonDoFox in your Firefox or run it separately. The following lines describe how to install and use JonDoFox.

Installation options for JonDoFox

Installation option 1: Integration in Firefox (Profile installation)

This installation option integrates the JonDoFox profile and a locally installed Firefox, so that JonDoFox operates seamlessly with your system. Any previous Firefox configuration you may have created remains untouched by the installation. After installing, you may choose between both your profile and the JonDoFox configuration at each start of Firefox.

First, install Firefox on your system if you haven't done so yet. After that, you may install JonDoFox as follows:

Notice
When a new version of JonDoFox is released, you may always install the new version "on top of" the old one, i.e. into the same directory. Your bookmarks will be kept.

Installation option 2: "Portable"

The portable installation is recommended for removable drives. It will not integrate with your system. If needed, you have to create any links to the JonDoFox program files yourself.

Windows (2000, XP, Vista)

The JonDoFox installation program is also prepared for a portable installation. If you choose the portable installation, you may install JonDoFox on both a removable drive and your hard drive. Any existing Firefox or JonDoFox installation remains untouched as long as you do not install JonDoFox to the same directory and thus update an existing installation. While updating from earlier JonDoFox versions your bookmarks are kept. JonDoFox Portable automatically integrates with the PortableApps menu for which a lot of other applications are available as well.

for Mac OS X (10.4 or higher)

(in preparation)

Manual for the JonDoFox profile

Overview: Security relevant Firefox extensions

The JonDoFox lite package contains all extensions which are relevant for your security, already with settings optimized. You will find some other useful extensions in the complete package which we have individually tested concerning their security and compatibility with JonDoFox. The Firefox status bar always gives you control of the most important functions integrated in JonDoFox:

Statuszeile JonDoFox (CSLite, NoScript, AdblockPlus, JonDoFox)

Prevent long-lasting spying: Control Cookies with CS-Lite

Using CS-Lite, you may very conveniently determine for which websites to accept cookies and for which to block them. If you click on the CS-Lite icon CS-Lite Icon with your left mouse button, you are given the following options for the currently visited web site:

CS-Lite Menü

Warning: You should never use the option CS-Lite: Cookies global akzeptieren Allow Cookies Globally if possible. This allows cookies from all websites that have not been explicitly CS-Lite: Cookies global akzeptieren blocked, and others may track your steps on the Web.

Filter annoying advertisements with AdblockPlus

AdblockPlus AdblockPlus is an advertizement filter that runs in the background. Usually, you do not have to alter its settings. However, you may add your own filter lists any time.

Control active contents with NoScript

NoScript NoScript-Icon lets you conveniently control which potential dangerous scripts and plugins from a website your browser may execute or not.

Controlling installed plugins

When you visit a website containing plugin content like Flash movies or Java applets, this content will be automatically blocked by NoScript. A placeholder (left image) is shown instead of the active content:

NoScript-Platzhalter NoScript: Geblockte Objekte Menü

You may allow the content by clicking on the placeholder or by choosing the respective option in NoScript: Geblockte Objekte Blocked Objects after clicking on the NoScript menu icon NoScript-Icon.

Warning: Without special protective measures, allowed plugin content may completely or partially revoke your anonymity and might even damage your system.

Controlling JavaScript

If you click on the NoScript iconNoScript-Icon you get a list of all addresses/service providers with JavaScript code on the currently visited web site. The respective entries are marked with theNoScript temporär erlauben icon:

NoScript: Erlaubnis erteilen NoScript: Erlaubnis entziehen

By clicking on NoScript temporär erlauben Temporarily allow you activate scripts for this entry. By another click, as shown in the right image, you may easily remove this permission again. If you would like to remove the permissions for all addresses, you just have to click on NoScript: Temporäre Berechtigungen aufheben Revoke temporary permissions.

Warning: You should give as few permissions as possible, and if possible only for the currently visited website. Third party scripts are often only used to spy on you and are rarely needed for proper functionality of the website.

If you generally distrust any address you may classify it untrusted, and it will no more show up within the addresses you might allow. In order to make this classification, move your mouse over the option NoScript: nicht vertrauenswürdig Untrusted. Then, you get an overview of all the addresses on the current website which you may mark untrusted:

NoScript: nicht vertrauenswürdig Menü

You may undo this action just the same way.

Stay flexible and switch proxy if needed

If you would like to surf the Web with a different (local) proxy than JonDo or without any proxy, just use the button JonDo-Proxy integrated in JonDoFox (down right) in order to switch between different proxy configurations:

JonDoFox-Popup

Whenever you like to bypass the proxy without completely deactivating it (e.g. when downloading large files to save time and money), just open the context menu with a right mouse click on the file and choose Bypass JonDo/Tor/Proxy and Save Link As...

Protection against dangerous flash videos: Downloading videos with aTube Catcher

To prevent having to activate dangerous Flash in your browser, you should always download web videos to your hard drive and play them from there. This also saves you the additional traffic which would be needed to view a streaming video again. Besides some links to video download sites, JonDoFox contains the download tool Download Helper for this purpose. If you are visiting a YouTube page, just click on the black triangle left to the address bar (marked in red) and select the video you would like to download:

1-Click-Video-Download with Download Helper

For Windows and Linux (under WINE), there also exists an excellent freeware program called aTube Catcher. You may configure this program for JonDo by activating the HTTP proxy in aTube Catcher in Tools->Connection settings and setting it to Host:127.0.0.1 and Port: 4001

aTube Catcher Connection settings: HTTP proxy 127.0.0.1:4001

For playing movies of all video formats on all operating systems, the free VideoLAN Media Player is a very good choice.