Skip to main content

Public Fox – User access control in Firefox

Just like a computer with multiple users require restriction and rules on what each user can do on the shared computer, a browser, which is the gateway to the world wide web, requires user access restrictions too.

Public Fox is an addon for Firefox that allows the computer administrator to lock down various areas of the browser on a shared PC. Public Fox password protects the following sections in Firefox:

publicfox

# Lock downloads: Users can’t download files with specified extensions using Firefox, like EXE, BAT and anything that would like to add. You can also add XPI to prevent installation of new addons.

# Lock addons window: Users can’t uninstall addons from Firefox

# Lock Options and about:config.

# Lock History sidebar, Bookmarks addition and Clear Private data option.

# Blacklist certain websites from opening 

Trying to access these areas prompt for a password.

publicfox-password

There are a few issues with this addon though, like the bookmark block didn’t work on my Firefox (version 3.0.1) and one user said that the addon blocking didn’t work in version 3.0.8. Every new update of Firefox is most likely breaking the security restrictions of this addon. Either the developer has to keep up with the fixes or users who want to use this tool will need to downgrade a couple of versions.
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 21, 2009 at 7:20 AM

    i have forgotten the password for public fox. Anyone one know how to remove or reset it?

    [email protected]

    Any help appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 5, 2009 at 8:06 PM

    You need to change a couple of hidden settings. These settings are accessed by typing about:config into the location bar. If you have locked access to about:config you will need to start Firefox in safe mode to access about:config

    Type about:config into the location bar and press enter. This brings up a list or preferences.
    Locate the preference extensions.dlwatch.password, right-click on it and choose Reset
    Next find the preference extensions.dlwatch.lock and make sure it is set to false, if it is not double-click on it to change its value.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 10, 2009 at 11:16 PM

    Help! I have installed public fox, checked everything in the box and made a password but it still does not lock anything! Everything is still accessible and the settings can be changed or the whole thing uninstalled. What do i do to get it to work?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kaushik PatowaryAugust 11, 2009 at 9:44 AM

    You could be using an unsupported version of Firefox. Some extensions break when you upgrade Firefox. I suggest you ask the developers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousApril 14, 2011 at 12:26 PM

    how to block yahoomail in public fox

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMarch 21, 2012 at 6:31 AM

    Please take away the password on you tube.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Record CPU and Memory Usage Over Time in Windows?

Whenever the computer is lagging or some application is taking too long to respond, we usually fire up task manager and look under the Performance tab or under Processes to check on processor utilization or the amount of free memory available. The task manager is ideal for real-time analysis of CPU and memory utilization. It even displays a short history of CPU utilization in the form of a graph. You get a small time-window, about 30 seconds or so, depending on how large the viewing area is.
17 comments
Read more

Diagram 101: Different Types of Diagrams and When To Use Them

Diagrams are a great way to visualize information and convey meaning. The problem is that there’s too many different types of diagrams, so it can be hard to know which ones you should use in any given situation. To help you out, we’ve created this diagram that lays out the 7 most common types of diagrams and when they’re best used:
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Schedule Changes to Your Facebook Page Cover Photo

Facebook’s current layout, the so called Timeline, features a prominent, large cover photo that some people are using in a lot of different creative ways. Timeline is also available for Facebook Pages that people can use to promote their website or business or event. Although you can change the cover photo as often as you like, it’s meant to be static – something which you design and leave it for at least a few weeks or months like a redesigned website. However, there are times when you may want to change the cover photo frequently and periodically to match event dates or some special promotion that you are running or plan to run. So, here is how you can do that.
1 comment
Read more