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user-agent security "U" not in FF6 - why?

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  • Last reply by finitarry

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I looked at the user-agent for Firefox 6 and found that the U for high security level is not there any more. Why? Is it not needed any more? Is its absence likely to cause problems with secure sites?

I looked at the user-agent for Firefox 6 and found that the U for high security level is not there any more. Why? Is it not needed any more? Is its absence likely to cause problems with secure sites?

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That has been gone since Firefox 4.0.

That "U" really hasn't meant much since like 1996 when the US government lifted the export controls on software that used encryption. Under the old rules only US versions used the "U" for 128-bit, which I believe what the "U" represented - USA. Export version were restricted to 64-bit, IIRC.

As far as problems, I have seen a few support postings here about problems like that, and when I checked those web sites out I found ancient "UA sniffing" code being used. Code that was looking for IE4 and NS3 and 4, from over 10 years ago. Time for those websites to enter the 3nd decade of the 21st century.

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Chosen Solution

That has been gone since Firefox 4.0.

That "U" really hasn't meant much since like 1996 when the US government lifted the export controls on software that used encryption. Under the old rules only US versions used the "U" for 128-bit, which I believe what the "U" represented - USA. Export version were restricted to 64-bit, IIRC.

As far as problems, I have seen a few support postings here about problems like that, and when I checked those web sites out I found ancient "UA sniffing" code being used. Code that was looking for IE4 and NS3 and 4, from over 10 years ago. Time for those websites to enter the 3nd decade of the 21st century.

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Thanks, people. Very interesting.