Monday, October 21, 2019

"Germany's cyber-security agency recommends Firefox as most secure browser"

From ZD Net:
Firefox is the only browser that received top marks in a recent audit carried out by Germany's cyber-security agency -- the German Federal Office for Information Security (or the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik -- BSI).

The BSI tested Mozilla Firefox 68 (ESR), Google Chrome 76, Microsoft Internet Explorer 11, and Microsoft Edge 44. The tests did not include other browsers like Safari, Brave, Opera, or Vivaldi....
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There is a downside for publishers  when people de-Googlefy..
From Digiday, September 25:

German publishers wrestle with Firefox’s latest anti-tracking changes
German publishers have been hit hard by Mozilla Firefox’s latest anti-tracking update, which blocks third-party cookies by default for all the browser’s users.

Publishers have experienced a detrimental drop in programmatic ad revenues since the changes three weeks ago. Axel Springer is among those to have seen a drop, but the issue is marketwide, according to media sources. Average revenue rate drops have been up to 15%, according to publisher sources. But average bid rates, which is how frequently buyers choose to bid on a piece of inventory, are down almost 40% on Firefox in Germany, according to ad exchange Index Exchange. Meanwhile, the average price of Firefox inventory has dropped between 15% and 25% in Germany.

The Enhanced Tracking Changes, rolled out Sept. 3, are Mozilla’s equivalent to Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention for Safari, which have made it impossible for publishers to monetize ads programmatically on Safari. While U.K. and U.S. publishers have seen a negligible effect from the Firefox changes, Germany has a far greater number of Firefox users, estimated by industry sources between 20% and 30%....MORE