Is gnome browser (epiphany) secure to use?

I am noticing it is quite fast, faster than default mozilla firefox, i am under zorin 16.1 lite and my CPU Is quite old. I wonder if it is safe to use it.

System:
Kernel: 5.13.0-52-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0
Distro: Zorin OS 16.1
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: MICRO-STAR model: G31TM-P21 (MS-7529) v: 1.0
serial: BIOS: American Megatrends v: 4.7 date: 07/28/2010
CPU:
Topology: Dual Core model: Pentium E5300 bits: 64 type: MCP
L2 cache: 2048 KiB
Speed: 2600 MHz min/max: 1203/2603 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2600 2: 2600

4GB RAM

Depends on what you mean by "safe".

If you are talking about resource consumption with your computer specs, it's probably very safe to use and won't slow down your computer.

If you are talking about security it's also probably safe to use, considering that the biggest threat to security is yourself. If you browser the web cowboy-style clicking on every link and downloading every file you see, it's only a matter of time until you get some nasty malware in your system.

Firefox, Chrome, Brave, etc are probably safest to use because they have more resources to pour in. However, they also support more features and that creates additional attack surface to potential vulnerabilities. So you might want to disable all those features that you are not using.

Gnome Web (Epiphany) is meant to be lightweight so I would assume a lot of those features to not even exist. But I can't say for sure. No matter which one you choose, please be careful when clicking and opening links online, even those that get to you via email (including marketing, special offers and even links from friends and family).

2 Likes

Thank you very much for all this explanation, this is a lot of help.
Indeed I ment "safe" regarding browsing the web.I am with you regarding opening strange links... though I use to watch streaming of tv series on line, and you know may add sites involved (for that I use mozilla firefox with add blocker..but now you got me thinking, since I always knew extensions could be not safe)
Regarding Chromium, I cannot install it , if it is not from snapt. Thank you.

For ad-blocker I would recommend uBlock Origin but I'm not sure if it's available for Gnome Web. Another limitation you might find is with feature-rich sites like twitch, online suites, etc. Those tend to use modern web standards that may not be implemented by Gnome in order to keep it lightweight. But I guess this is a matter of trial-and-error. As for streaming sites for movies and stuff, I prefer to use something robust like Firefox... those sites don't have the greatest reputation :smiley:

1 Like

hi! yes uBlock Origin is what I use. Thank you for your reply!
PS: yesterday night I noticed Ephifany (gnome browser) shot down (crashed) by itself... must test it further.

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.