Ah, cryptographic security: a boon to those who understand the algorithms, but all too often a lost cause to those who don't. The secure HTTPS protocol for Web surfing is widely accepted, but has one fatal flaw: users ignore certificate error warnings. A Firefox extension called Perspectives aims to close that security hole.

The Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have released HTTPS Everywhere, a Firefox extension that activates SSL/TSL encryption on sites that support the security setting, but don't feature it as a default when visiting because of partial support, unsecured trackback links or other issues. To alleviate this problem, HTTPS Everywhere writes all requests in HTTPS.

Today EFF and the Tor Project are launching a public beta of a new Firefox extension called HTTPS Everywhere.

The one area where Google Chrome definitively beat Firefox is on the speed front. Firefox is simply not fast enough. But if speed was the only reason behind your decision to choose Google Chrome instead of Firefox, FasterFox Lite Firefox extension will give you some reprieve.

Suhosin, a security extension for PHP, can occasionally cause crashes. A patch released by the Debian maintainers resolves this problem, but does so at the expense of security. This has led to heated behind-the-scenes discussions.

Now Mozilla has a solution to the problem that I personally think is so simple, yet effective, it will change the web security landscape for tens of millions of Firefox users.

The NoScript Firefox extension faced a major backlash last week when users discovered that it was surreptitiously disrupting the operation of AdBlock Plus. Mozilla has responded by proposing a new policy that sets boundaries for appropriate extension behavior.

The idea behind Greasemonkey is pretty simple. It's a Firefox extension, installed in the same way as any other Firefox extension (find it via the Tools > Addons menu and hit Install). However, it doesn't do anything in and of itself: what it does is to enable you to run scripts, either by other people or by yourself, which will alter the way webpages look and function.

Do you think you are safe with Firefox? In general, I would agree with you. But at the same time, I would also point out that there is a fairly sizable security concern that may be addressed, as effectively as some security experts might like. It's called the Firefox extension.