That isn't a FF issue sounds more like malware.

Thanks, WestEnd, for your reply. I'm not thinking the issue is malware, as I have a good quality (as in a pay-version) malware-checker. I also just installed a fresh version of the OS, but it didn't make any difference.

I did, though, neglect to mention that I'm also running the following add-ons: Decentraleyes, HTTPS Everywhere, Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin.

An IP lookup shows this: Fastly (SKYCA-3)

Hi, something is connecting to the owner of the IP Address that belongs to : https://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-151-101-0-0-1/pft?s=151.101.196.201 Fastly Network Operations which has this policy for Peers : https://www.fastly.com/peering so yes it is Malware I would think as Peers mean sharing, so could be bitcoin miner. Or is it your service provider ?

It maybe the Decentraleyes, I would suggest disable it and see if traffic continues. Maybe switch if this works on a Mac, which it does : https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/malwarebytes/

Give your self a scan with the full version : https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/ If need help :

• https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/9573-im-infected-what-do-i-do-now/

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

Hello WestEnd,

You got me thinking; and so I just ran Firefox through its paces for quite a few cycles, and checked my firewall along the way. You were definitely on the right track, because that IP address is connected to the add-on, Privacy Badger. Thanks for the idea, WestEnd!

Hi Pkshadow,

I posted my last reply just as your reply appeared. So, firstly, thanks for your additional thoughts!

I did spot the Fastly trail, but didn't know what to make of it. Also, as I'd mentioned in my last post, I ran Firefox through multiple start/quit cycles – six-times with Privacy Badger active, and six-times with it disabled. And every time the add-on is disabled, that IP address doesn't appear; but, every time that add-on is active, the IP address appears.

I wonder if anyone else who uses Privacy Badger is seeing that same IP address, or one close to it?

I'll also email EFF, since they're the developer of the add-on, and see what they have to say.

Also, I do use Intego's VirusBarrier; and it gives my drive a clean bill of health; but, do you think I still need to run Malwarebytes?

Thanks again, Pkshadow!

Thanks, cor-el; yes, I'm seeing the same thing. I think that by me going directly to EFF will resolve the matter for good. I'll re-post their response here.

Hi, great found out what it was.

Look at the permissions you gave up to use Privacy Badger https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/privacy-badger17/

As a footnote, this article lists various connections Firefox makes automatically at startup and during operation, if you ever need to rule these out: How to stop Firefox from making automatic connections.

The about:networking page shows this data for accessing the EFF website, so it looks that this IP is legitimate and there is nothing to worry.

• https://www.eff.org/ 151.101.0.201:443

You can verify this by opening the manin site in Firefox tab and check the remote address.

about:networking#dns ->

www.eff.org	ipv4	false	151.101.0.201
				151.101.64.201
				151.101.128.201
 				151.101.192.201

Thanks, cor-el, for the great info!

I heard back from EFF, the developer of Privacy Badger, and they confirmed that the IP addresses which appear at startup are all connected to Privacy Badger. Thanks, all, for your responses.