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Posts tagged with "security"

UserScript in Opera is safe, so far

Tuesday, 19. July 2005, 16:28:58

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Some people might be worried about the big security issue found with GreaseMonkey (everyone: switch to 0.3.5 and forego the powerful GM functions for now...). Rest assured that Opera *does* have an advanced security model for its UserScript implementation.

Edit: 'safe' even, as some people kindly pointed out.

1 Comment

Asa spins for Firefox

Wednesday, 20. April 2005, 07:53:50

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So, what do you do if the major point of your marketing campaign is 'we are more secure', and you have to release monthly security updates just like MSIE anyway? And you have some minor open issues anyway? You spin it. I'm glad Opera 8's PR is not focusing solely on the security!

In your next post, you bash your competetitor by saying "it's almost as good as our product now", ignoring that many people obviously think the bigger feature set makes that other product already much more usable, despite a few trivial quibbles you have with it (Offering some information during the installation? A text selection cursor? Is that the best you can come up with?).

To make it complete, you then describe a new experimental feature not available in your normal builds, which might one day come to normal releases, as the best thing since sliced bread, and completely fail to mention that the competitor previously dismissed on trivial grounds has pioneered the very same thing a few years ago, introducing the name and concept, and honed it to perfection by now.

Ah well, spinning is part of his job I suppose. But this sequence of postings is something special...

7 Comments

CNet discovers User JavaScript

Wednesday, 23. March 2005, 11:08:16

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I've been linked to from Cnet:

<http://news.com.com/Firefox+add-on+lets+surfers+tweak+sites%2C+but+is+it+safe/2100-1032_3-5631009.html>

links to

<http://people.opera.com/rijk/opera/userjs.html>

"In what could signal a trend toward user scripts, Norwegian browser maker Opera Software picked up the idea, adding the functionality to Beta 3 of Opera 8, acknowledging Greasemonkey."


Grumble... maybe I should make it clearer on my page that Greasemonkey was not the inspiration for developing User JavaScript. This idea had come up between Jonny A. (Opera tech thinker) and Lars H., (our main JavaScript guy) in 2002 already, and the code was actually written last year.

They also quote my quote of Hallvord's 'be careful' warning.

6 Comments

About user scripts in beta 3

Wednesday, 16. March 2005, 21:22:11

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NOTE: I've made a webpage now to present the user.js framework script. See <http://people.opera.com/rijk/opera/userjs.html>

Hallvord introduced Opera's latest surprise for tweakers in his Journal.

What is a user script

Basically it is a script from a local file that gets executed before any other scripts (or event handlers) on the page, once in every document.

I've collected some more or less interesting scripts that I'd like to run on all pages, and on specific sites, in this user script: <http://people.opera.com/rijk/opera/scripts/user.js>. I'm not yet using any versioning there BTW, it can be a different script tomorrow, or in an hour. The script is set up to easily add extra functions, and enable/disable them for all or for specific sites when you want. Don't expect me to explain specific functions, because I'm not a proficient JavaScripter myself. I'd say: experiment, share, and file bug reports if necessary.

Enabling user script in Opera 8 beta 3

[User Prefs]
User Javascript=1
User Javascript File=C:Program FilesOperauserjs.js

Security

The script has exactly the same restrictions as a script on the page, except that it can access some User JS specific functionality (we'll get back to you on that) and that it can read the text property on any script element (normal scripts can't read the text property of external scripts loaded from other servers than the document.)

The additional privileges are available when the User JS file is initially executed and when a User JS event is being handled. Global functions defined by User JS but called from a script in the page have no special privileges.

33 Comments

Shortcut for security info in beta 2

Monday, 28. February 2005, 13:39:49

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For those who wondered how to access the security info without using the mouse: the answer is Ctrl+I. Works when a browser window has focus.

5 Comments

How to lie with statistics

Monday, 13. December 2004, 20:26:04

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Compare


and



Note: this is an interesting comparison today, 2004-12-10, these dynamically generated images might not look that special after Firefox patches some issues. Snapshot.

The security update 7.54u this evening fixes two Secunia advisories, only one is taken into account at the moment, so actually the red widge should represent only 3.5% of the circle.


Update 2005-03-08: On this joyful day 'Opera 7' is given a green circle by Secunia. Never mind that they are actually looking at Opera 8 beta 2, reinforcing the title of this post...

3 Comments

Security experts prefer Opera

Friday, 8. October 2004, 15:52:15

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"Security News: After the Download.ject attack in June, voices advocating alternatives to Internet Explorer grew louder. Which browser do you use?

Schneier: I think it's foolish to use Internet Explorer. It's filled with security holes, and it's too hard to configure it to have decent security. Basically, it seems to be written in the best interests of Microsoft and not in the best interests of the customer. I have used the Opera browser for years, and I am very happy with it. It's much better designed, and I never have to worry about Explorer-based attacks."


From:
<http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci1011474,00.html>

Remember, no browser is perfect. But Opera has both a track record of taking security very seriously, and is simply one of the least interesting targets for attackers.

1 Comment

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