Two different versions of Safari or Firefox on the same system.

31 May 2017 11:34:55

Derek Wright

For internet banking the bank advocates that one uses the Trusteer Endpoint Protection application.

When it is working it looks good supposedly giving end to end security.

Problem is

The Browsers of my Choice - Firefox and Safari are updated more frequently than the Trusteer application and so I cannot use the Trusteer app when moving my cash around the world <g>

Trusteer told me to back level my browser to the level they can support and so forgo any benefits of the newer versions of the browsers. (Some of which may be security related)

The only solution I can think of (apart from having a down level system for the benefit of online banking) is to try and have two copies of Firefox on the machine with the older version being in a different folder with a unique name.

Any experience of running two different versions of an app eg Appv1 and Appv2 on the same system (I have run different versions of iPages for quite a while - this might be the proof I need)

Thanks for any thoughts.

Re: Two different versions of Safari or Firefox on the same system.

1 Jun 2017 16:29:20

Derek Wright

I am running two different versions of Firefox, the old version that Trusteer works on and the latest and grreatest version that Trusteer does not work on.

Sad thing is that the preferences for both versions of Firefox are shared ie so I cannot make one version auto update as new versions are released and the old version to stay as is so that Trusteer will work.

So any ideas as to how I can separate the preferences so that are specific to each version.

Re: Two different versions of Safari or Firefox on the same system.

2 Jun 2017 23:07:11

Tony Still

Disclaimer: I have no experience of Trusteer.

If it's a choice between running an up-to-date browser on an up-to-date macOS with all its current security fixes and running a piece of third-party software of unknown provenance (though some bad reviews on the web) and which does not seem to keep up with the OS, I think it's clear which is the bigger risk. A piece of security software that is out-of-date is also less likely to detect the latest threats and can easily become a security threat in its own right.

Does your bank insist or just recommend running Trusteer? If the latter then I would consider foregoing it until it is updated.

When you log on to online banking, regardless of the above, you do need to:
* Check the padlock and address in the browser as really being your bank
* Only do it from your own trusted computer
* Only do it on a trusted (ideally your own) WiFi connection (never from a coffee shop, library etc)
* Keep macOS bang up-to-date.

If you still want to run an outdated browser version, I suggest doing it from an extra user account. Reserving that account for Internet banking would also add some security.

Re: Two different versions of Safari or Firefox on the same system.

3 Jun 2017 11:09:22

Derek Wright

Tony - Thanks for your comments re Browsers and Trusteer, I totally agree with your comments and my next step is to write a strong response to the Trusteer support person and to also let my bank know of the rather cavalier attitude of Trusteer to security.

Re your security house keeping rules - yes I think I keep to them already.