Insights For Success

Strategy, Innovation, Leadership and Security

Knowledge

Chrome extensions for the security conscious

GeneralEdward Kiledjian
marjan-blan-marjanblan-Hj5qdyQ2PmE-unsplash.jpg

Extensions are interesting little technical widgets. Most assume they are simply tools but some see it as art. I can learn a lot about a computer user by the browser extensions they have installed and use. As a security professional, I have a handful of security oriented extensions (in addition to the ones that make the web more usable or that save me money).

I regularly receive requests from readers to list my extensions and to be honest, they often change. I remove extensions I don’t use, deactivate extensions I sometimes use and add new ones that I learn about. So right now, here are the extensions I think you will find the most useful .They are Google Chrome extensions but they work in any Chromium browser (like MS Edge).

builtwith technology profiler

It shows the tech stack a website is built on

chaff

Generate random web browsing traffic to obfuscate actual browsing behavior to avoid profiling through 3rd party observation. Think of this as data poisoning for the companies that track you.

ClearURLs

This extension will automatically remove tracking elements from URLs to help protect your privacy when browsing the Internet.

Click&Clean

A tool that lets you clean browser tracking tools.

Disconnect

Let’s use block invisible web trackers

Distill

A tool that allows you to monitor a webpage and alert you when it changes.

DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials

This is a swiss army knife of internet privacy. Here are the feature this extension offers

Escape Advertising Tracker Networks — Our Privacy Protection will block all the hidden third-party trackers we can find, exposing the major advertising networks tracking you over time, so that you can track who's trying to track you.

  • Increase Encryption Protection — We force sites to use an encrypted connection where available, protecting your data from prying eyes, like Internet Service Providers.

  • Search Privately — You share your most personal information with your search engine, like your financial, medical, and political questions. What you search for is your own business, which is why DuckDuckGo search doesn't track you. Ever.

  • Decode Privacy Policies — We’ve partnered with Terms of Service Didn't Read to include their scores and labels of website terms of service and privacy policies, where available.

DuckDuckGo has said “DuckDuckGo has announced that its Chrome browser extension has been updated to block Google's new tracking technology.” You can test if your browser currently supports flock using this EFF AmIFloced website.

EFF Chrome extensions

  • https everywhere Switches you to a secure https connection when available

  • Privacy Badget Privacy Badger automatically learns to block invisible trackers.

Robots Exclusion Checker

Robots Exclusion Checker is designed to visually indicate whether any robots exclusions are preventing your page from being crawled or indexed by Search Engines. But a security person could then take those robot files, manually check those pages and find out why the organization doesn’t them indexed. Sometimes the exclusion is because they don’t want Google indexing active pages, other times it’s because those pages contain information the organization doesn’t want outsiders to easily find (pricing, org info, etc).

Social Disconnect Plus

Social Disconnect Plus is a browser extension that removes all sorts of Social Media content on webpages (i.e. the Facebook like button and other widgets).

uBlock Origin

uBlock Origin is the best ad blocker available but it does so much more. It is a powerful HTML firewall to protect you from several web attacks.

UA Spoofer for Chrome

With this extension, you can quickly and easily switch between user-agent strings. Also, you can set up specific URLs that you want to spoof every time.

Wayback machine

Easily determine if the Internet Archive has previous versions of the webpage you are on.

4 characteristics of super learners

StrategyEdward Kiledjian

Back in the day, you went to school to learn a skill and then performed your skill for the next 40 years. Times have changed and anyone working today knows you never stop learning. As a guy who started in IT as a technical specialist, it seems I was asked to pick up new skills every week.

Over the years, this drive for constant learning became a way of life which I keep until today.  As a business leader, I try to instill this same desire in all of my employees but some complain that they are “bad learners”. Some complain that they have never been good at learning new skills so it caused me to ask my self “what makes a good learner?”

Contrary to popular lore, anyone can train themselves to be a good and efficient learner if they master the following skills:

Curiosity

Curiosity is critical. You must develop a sense of wonder and a sense of curiosity.  

When I learned speed reading, one of the first skills I had to develop was curiosity. I learned that without a genuine curiosity, your sub-conscious will help you learn easier and faster.  

Why do you want to learn the skill? What about this skill is most important to you? How will this skill or knowledge positively impact your life?

Learning is an ongoing process

Too many people rush to get to the end rather than using the learning journey to improve themselves. Learning is an ongoing process and you will “never be done learning”. Using this approach, find the traits, skills or patterns that will ultimately lead to the desired end result and practice each one (one by one).

Learning is an ongoing process and this approach will allow you to break it down into manageable and measurable chunks. Always keep improving. 

Teach it

Find opportunities to teach the skill you are acquiring to others. Research shows that teaching a skill has an incredibly positive effect on your ability to assimilate and master a new skill or knowledge.

Teach it even if you feel your skills isn't 100% yet.

Live it

To really master new knowledge or a skill, you have to apply this to often. A good example of this is a student that spends 2 high school years learning Spanish and then never uses it. A couple of years later, you probably would have “lost” this knowledge.

If you are learning a language, find a language support group where you can periodically chat with native speakers. If you are learning a new technical skill that is not part of your day to day job, do a side project to use it.

Refresh your knowledge

I strongly recommend that you take notes using (the brain compatible) mind mapping technique. This is a great way to learn a new skill. If you re-open your notes many years later, you will realize how quickly it will refresh your knowledge and bring it almost all back with minimal effort.

There are dozens of sites explaining mind mapping but the only one you should pay any attention to is the books or sites from its original creator, Tony Buzan.