Favicons, can they be blocked

Is there any way to do a setting in FF that will block favicons, maybe particularly if they come from "3rd party" websites?

As far as I know the favicon is the little icon that displays on the left of the URL string in the browser path. Maybe multiple favicon calls can be embedded in a single webpage? Don't know.

I've recently had NOD32 4.x block images from websites that are (fleetingly) identified as coming from various .cc URLs, each time having the filename "favicon.gif". This has happened at least twice on the GiveAwayOfTheDay website.

Unfortunately the NOD notification dialog is so fast that it's impossible to capture the URL, and there is no log of these web blocks (either of the URL or of the specific page that it was called from) currently available in NOD although such a log is on the list for implementation.

So, is there any way to block favicons completely, maybe through about:config?

Could the hosts file be used to block all .cc addresses, and would that apply to favicons?

Do all browsers display them? It seems like they might be ripe for abuse, as they seem so innocuous but they could be just as compromised as any other malware image.

 

Other than using an ancient browser: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/internet/firefox/quick-tip-disable-favicons-in-firefox/

Google is your friend, not counting privacy.

 

If you're using AdBlock Plus, you can make your own filter like favicon.ico.
You could also do that with the SimpleBlock add-on.
You could also do it with Privoxy, Proxomitron, etc.

For example,
googlechromereleases.blogspot.com/favicon.ico
www.blogger.com/favicon.ico
forum.userstyles.org/themes/default/design/favicon.png
forum.userstyles.org/favicon.ico
ubuntuforums.org/favicon.ico
cdn.omgubuntu.co.uk/wp-content/themes/omgubuntu/favicon.ico
www.webupd8.org/favicon.ico

If you're good with regex, you could possibly cook up a catch-'em-all filter.

 

You can also examine about:cache for a list of items (if your version of Fx allows). Save the list to a spreadsheet and then filter for whatever you want. That will not require looking at the log of your AV/FW.

 

How to Disable Favicons in Mozilla Firefox:
-http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/170029-firefox-favicons-disable.html

 

Works perfectly! The favicons don't just not display, they aren't downloaded at all as far as I could see. (I checked my Privoxy log and the cache of Firefox: not trace of them).

That said, I'd still prefer blocking them by something which let's me have "exceptions" so that sites I trust can display their favicons.

 

More on favicons @ Wikipedia: