Comodo Dragon Web Browser
🧭 Overview
Developer: Comodo Group
Engine: Blink (via Chromium)
License: Freeware
Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows
🕰️ History and Development
2010 – Launch
Comodo Dragon was introduced as a Chromium-based browser with a focus on security and privacy.
It featured enhancements such as Comodo Secure DNS, SSL certificate validation, and cookie blocking to prevent tracking.
2011–2013 – Feature Enhancements
Introduced a portable version for users who prefer not to install software.
Added features like proxy settings, incognito mode, and the ability to clear browsing history upon exit.
2014–2016 – Security Improvements
Enhanced SSL certificate validation to indicate the authenticity and strength of a website’s certificate.
Removed certain Google features to improve privacy, including Google user tracking and automatic search suggestions.
2017–2022 – Stability and Compatibility
Focused on maintaining compatibility with the latest web standards while ensuring security features remained intact.
Addressed user feedback and resolved issues related to browser performance and stability.
2023–Present – Maintenance Mode
Comodo Dragon continues to receive updates, with the latest version being 134.0.6998 released on May 19, 2025.
The browser is now in a maintenance phase, with fewer new features being introduced.
🔐 Key Features
Comodo Secure DNS: Protects users from malicious websites and accelerates browsing speed.
SSL Certificate Validation: Indicates the authenticity and strength of website certificates.
Privacy Enhancements: Blocks cookies and other web trackers to protect user privacy.
Incognito Mode: Allows private browsing without saving history or cookies.
Portable Version: Enables users to run the browser without installation.
⚠️ Security Concerns
2016 Vulnerability Disclosure: A Google engineer reported a serious security vulnerability in Comodo Dragon, including issues like DNS hijacking and disabling the same-origin policy.
Comodo’s Response: Comodo acknowledged the issues and claimed to have fixed them, though the effectiveness of the patches was questioned.
📈 Current Status
User Base: Comodo Dragon maintains a niche user base among privacy-conscious individuals.
Development: While updates continue, the browser is in a maintenance phase with fewer new features being introduced.
Alternatives: Users seeking enhanced privacy and security may consider alternatives like Brave or Vivaldi browsers.
The Origins: Comodo’s Security-First Philosophy (Late 2000s)
The story of Comodo Dragon is inextricably linked to its parent company, Comodo Group (now known as Comodo Security Solutions).
Company Background: Comodo is a cybersecurity company known for its firewall, antivirus software, and SSL certificate services. Their entire brand identity is built around trust and security.
The Browser Landscape: In the late 2000s, Google Chrome was rapidly gaining market share. While praised for its speed and simplicity, privacy advocates and security experts raised concerns about its data collection practices and the inherent “trust” it placed in websites.
The Strategic Goal: Comodo saw an opportunity to leverage its security expertise. The idea was to take the core of Chrome—the blazing-fast Chromium engine—and harden it with a security-centric philosophy, creating a browser that was both fast and more trustworthy than the original.
Launch and Core Value Proposition (2010)
Comodo Dragon was first released in 2010, just two years after Chrome’s initial launch.
Built on Chromium: Like many alternative browsers, Dragon was built on the open-source Chromium project. This was a strategic masterstroke, as it guaranteed full compatibility with the modern web and the growing ecosystem of Chrome extensions.
The “Safer Chrome” Pitch: Its marketing was direct: it was “Chrome without the privacy concerns.” Comodo positioned Dragon as the browser for security-conscious users, technologists, and privacy advocates.
Key Differentiating Features (The “Dragon” Modifications)
Comodo’s changes to the Chromium base were almost exclusively focused on privacy and security. The following table breaks down its main historical differentiators:
Feature—>What it Was—>The Goal
Stripped-Out Tracking—>Removed Google-specific tracking features like the optional “RLZ” tracking identifier and client identification.—>Enhanced user privacy by preventing usage data from being sent to Google.
Enhanced SSL Certificate Checking—>Used Comodo’s own certificate validation system alongside the standard one.—>To be more aggressive in identifying and blocking sites with invalid or suspicious SSL certificates, preventing man-in-the-middle attacks.
Integrated Domain Validation—>Featured a highlighted display of a website’s domain and SSL certificate status.—>Make it easier for users to verify they were on a legitimate site and not a phishing copycat.
Comodo Secure DNS—>Defaulted to using Comodo’s own Secure DNS service.—>To block access to known malicious websites at the DNS level before the page even loaded.
Sandboxing & Isolation—>Inherited and promoted Chromium’s native sandboxing technology, aligning with Comodo’s security messaging.—>To contain browser-based threats and prevent them from infecting the main operating system.
Evolution and Stagnation (2011-2020)
For a period, Comodo Dragon was actively maintained and updated in lockstep with Chromium.
Niche Audience: It found a loyal, if small, user base among IT professionals, privacy enthusiasts, and users already invested in the Comodo security ecosystem (e.g., those using Comodo Firewall or Antivirus).
The Inevitable Challenge: Maintaining a “fork” of Chromium is a massive technical undertaking. Chromium updates at a breakneck pace, and every change Comodo made had to be re-applied and tested with each new version. This is a resource-intensive process.
Stagnation: Over time, the unique value proposition of Comodo Dragon began to erode:
Mainstream Browsers Caught Up: Browsers like Mozilla Firefox and even Microsoft Edge doubled down on privacy and tracking protection, offering similar features out-of-the-box.
The Rise of Extensions: Powerful ad-blockers and privacy extensions (like uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger) became available for standard Chrome, allowing users to achieve a similar level of privacy without switching browsers.
Declining Development: As the market became more crowded, it became evident that maintaining Dragon was not a primary business for Comodo. Updates became slower, and the browser fell behind the leading edge.
The Current State: Effectively Defunct (2021-Present)
While not officially discontinued, Comodo Dragon is widely considered a legacy product.
Lack of Updates: The official Comodo website often hosts outdated versions that are multiple versions behind the current Chromium release, posing a significant security risk.
Silent Demise: Comodo has not made any official announcements, but the lack of active development and marketing speaks volumes. The company’s focus has clearly shifted to its core enterprise security products and its (also now defunct) Comodo IceDragon (a Firefox fork).
Legacy: Comodo Dragon’s history serves as an important case study. It was one of the first browsers to identify and attempt to capitalize on the privacy shortcomings of Google Chrome. It demonstrated that a “security-hardened” browser was a marketable idea, paving the way for other privacy-focused Chromium forks like Ungoogled Chromium.
Summary
The history of Comodo Dragon is the story of a bold but ultimately unsustainable niche product. It successfully carved out a space as a “safer Chrome” for a time by leveraging its parent company’s security credentials. However, it ultimately succumbed to the immense challenge of maintaining a browser fork in a rapidly evolving market and was rendered obsolete by both mainstream browser improvements and more agile privacy tools.
