Firefox introduces a new feature that would offer users the power to separate online identities. The option is called Firefox Containers, and it will help create new profiles for personal, work, banking or shopping purposes.
Firefox Containers use colors to separate online identities, and all opened tab lists will appear gathered together in a pile with their names in clear.
For the moment, Firefox Containers is released only for the Nightly users. After receiving feedback from testing, the developers will want to improve the feature before public launching.
The function is similar to Chrome’s account switcher, but for the fact that saved passwords and history are available to all Firefox Containers.
The new option was intended to solve the issue of account switching. While Google has a built-in facility that can help move from one account to another, other services like Facebook or Twitter do not offer this option.
Security Improvements
One small detail is that the new feature does not directly protect against tracking.
However, Firefox Containers do add security benefits to the browser, as tracking information from the Shopping Container will not give access to personal information.
A second security upgrade is that users will have the option to compartmentalize valuable information. The Banking container is created so as to protect against XSS and CSRF attacks.
The developer further explains that even if a site would try to use vulnerabilities on the bank side to steal financial data from the user, it will not succeed as the bank authentication cookies will be stored separately, and the site will not have access to them.
Firefox Containers Data Management
The algorithm will separate cookies and cached sites, which means that a work Gmail login, for example, will be made available if a new tab will be opened in the work Container. Another available option will be to have different tabs opened with various accounts on the same site.
The shared data will be the browser’s history, bookmarks, saved logins, HSTS flags, saved search and form entries, and permissions.
The information to be kept separated will be the local storage, cookies, indexed databases and cache.
A couple of Nightly users have already tested the feature, and the feedback seems to be favorable. The general idea is that people are content with being able to separate identities and have more privacy. They also welcome the opportunity of having inbuilt browser security.
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