Secure and private mobile web browser
A mobile web browser embedded in a smartphone operative to open a secure and private session with a web server on the Internet via one or more cell towers, using a mobile IP address of the smartphone, the mobile web browser including a VPN connector operative to connect the smartphone to a secure VPN server and to establish a virtual IP address for the smartphone, the virtual IP address corresponding to the location of the VPN server, a switch operable to change a current IP address of the smartphone used by the mobile web browser from a non-VPN mobile IP address to the virtual IP address of the VPN server, in a seamless manner without interrupting a current session with a web server, a URL content scanner causing a URL of a web page to be scanned for potential malware, a URL blocker, a tracker scanner and a tracker blocker.
1. A mobile web browser embedded in a smartphone operative to open a secure and private session with a web server on the Internet via one or more cell towers, using a mobile IP address of the smartphone, the mobile web browser comprising:
a virtual private network (VPN) connector integrated within a mobile web browser such that the VPN connector loads automatically upon opening the mobile web browser, operative to connect the smartphone to a secure VPN server and to establish a virtual IP address for the smartphone, the virtual IP address corresponding to the location of the VPN server, wherein the VPN connector enables the browser to operate in three modes; namely, (i) a VPN connection alone without web browsing, (ii) web browsing without a VPN connection, indicated in the browser by an icon of a globe in an unlocked state, and (iii) web browsing with a VPN connection, indicated in the browser by an icon of a globe in a locked state;
a switch operative to change a current IP address of the smartphone used by the mobile web browser from a non-VPN mobile IP address to the virtual IP address of the VPN server, in a seamless manner without interrupting a current session with a web server;
a uniform resource locator (URL) content scanner operative to cause a URL of a requested web page, input by a user of the smartphone, to be scanned for presence of potential malware prior to loading the requested web page by the mobile web browser;
a URL blocker, operative to conditionally warn the user that the requested web page is unsafe, if said URL content scanner detects presence of potential malware;
a tracker scanner operative to scan the requested web page loaded by the mobile web browser to detect scripts in the web page, for each detected script to compare the script content with a list of URL connections to detect trackers in the script, each URL connection being associated with a corresponding tracker, and to store the detected trackers on the mobile device; and
a tracker blocker operative to display the stored trackers to a user, to enable the user to selectively block one or more of the displayed trackers, and to reload the requested web page, comprising, for each selected tracker to block, rejecting the URL connection corresponding to the selected tracker.
2. The mobile web browser of claim 1 further comprising a private tab manager disabling recording of the requested web page in a history log of the mobile web browser.
3. The mobile web browser of claim 1 wherein said VPN connector is operable to connect the smartphone to a plurality of VPN servers, each VPN server being at a different location, wherein said VPN connector displays the plurality of VPN servers to the user, and enables the user to select one of the displayed VPN servers, and wherein said switch is further operable to change the IP address currently used by said mobile web browser to a virtual IP address corresponding to the location of the selected VPN server, in a seamless manner without interrupting the current session with the web server.
4. The mobile web browser of claim 1 wherein said switch is further operable to change the IP address used by the mobile web browser from the virtual IP address corresponding to the location of the VPN server to the mobile IP address of the smartphone, in a seamless manner without interrupting the session with the web server.
5. The mobile web browser of claim 1 wherein the mobile web browser displays an indicator indicating whether or not the smartphone is currently connected to a VPN server.
6. The mobile web browser of claim 1 wherein the mobile web browser generates an alert if a current session with the web server is not secure.
7. The mobile web browser of claim 1 , wherein said tracker blocker records, on the mobile device, the user's selections of trackers to block, and persists those selections when the mobile web browser loads another web page.
8. The mobile web browser of claim 1 , wherein the list of URL connections used by said tracker scanner is periodically updated.
9. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, which, when executed by a processor of a mobile device, cause the processor to perform a method of secure and private web browsing, comprising:
connecting the mobile device to a secure virtual private network (VPN) server, such that a VPN connector loads automatically upon opening the mobile web browser, and the mobile web browser operates in three modes; namely, (i) a VPN connection alone without web browsing, (ii) web browsing without a VPN connection, indicated in the browser by an icon of a globe in an unlocked state, and (iii) web browsing with a VPN connection, indicated in the browser by an icon of a globe in a locked state;
receiving a virtual IP address for the mobile device, the virtual IP address corresponding to the location of the VPN server;
changing a non-VPN IP address of the mobile device to the virtual IP address of the VPN server, during a current session between the mobile device and a web server, in a seamless manner without interrupting the current session;
receiving a uniform resource locator (URL) of a requested web page, input by a user of the mobile device;
prior to loading the requested web page, causing the received URL to be scanned for presence of potential malware;
conditionally warning the user that the requested web page is unsafe, if said causing to be scanned detects presence of potential malware in the web page;
subsequent to loading the requested web page, scanning the web page to detect scripts in the web page;
for each detected script, comparing the script content with a list of URL connections to detect trackers in the script, each URL connection being associated with a corresponding tracker;
storing the detected trackers on the mobile device;
displaying the stored trackers to a user;
enabling the user to selectively block one or more of the displayed trackers; and
subsequent to said enabling, reloading the requested web page, comprising, for each selected tracker to block, rejecting the URL connection corresponding to the selected tracker.
10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the method performed by the processor executing the instructions further comprises disabling recording of the requested web page in a history log of the mobile web browser.
11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the method performed by the processor executing the instructions further comprises:
displaying a plurality of VPN servers to the user;
enabling the user to select one of the displayed VPN servers;
changing the current IP address of the mobile device to a virtual IP address corresponding to the location of the selected VPN server, in a seamless manner without interrupting the current session between the mobile device and the web server.
12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the method performed by the processor executing the instructions further comprises changing the IP address of the mobile web device from the virtual IP address corresponding to the location of the VPN server to a non-VPN IP address of the mobile device, in a seamless manner without interrupting the current session with the web server.
13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the method performed by the processor executing the instructions further comprises displaying an indicator indicating whether or not the mobile device is currently connected to a VPN server.
14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the method performed by the processor executing the instructions further comprises generating an alert if a current session with a web server is not a secure connection.
15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the method performed by the processor executing the instructions further comprises:
recording, on the mobile device, the user's selections of trackers to block; and
persisting those selections when the mobile device loads another web page.
16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the method performed by the processor executing the instructions further comprises periodically updating the list of URL connections that is used for detecting trackers.