NoScript Strengthens Security Even If You Allow Scripting

NoScript is one of the most popular add-ons for Firefox. It’s designed to disable scripting and other mobile code to secure the browser. Yet, using Firefox with NoScript is like driving on a city street with Stop signs on every block: You have to enable scripting for every website you visit and didn’t have a chance to whitelist.

Security-conscious people are OK with the interruptions and are willing to invest time into building up a whitelist of commonly-visited sites. Yet, I suspect many NoScript users automatically click “allow” to enable scripting on the site without much thinking. And I bet many people uninstall the add-on altogether to avoid making scripting decisions.

If NoScript’s script whitelisting feature isn’t for you, you can still benefit from other ways in which it strengthens security of Firefox: namely, Application Boundaries Enforcer (ABE) and Cross-site scripting (XSS). Simply enable scripts globally using NoScript’s options menu:

XSS and ABE-related features of NoScript will remain enabled, and I recommend keeping them that way:

If you’re using Firefox and gave up on NoScript, give it a try after allowing scripts to run by default. Though you’ll lose the ability to selectively enable mobile code on trusted websites, you’ll retain some of the add-on’s benefits for strengthening security of the browser.

— Lenny Zeltser

Updated December 21, 2010
Lenny Zeltser

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About the Author

I transform ideas into successful outcomes, building on my 25 years of experience in cybersecurity. As the CISO at Axonius, I lead the security program to earn customers' trust. I'm also a Faculty Fellow at SANS Institute, where I author and deliver training for incident responders. The diversity of cybersecurity roles I've held over the years and the accumulated expertise, allow me to create practical solutions that drive business growth.

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