Alternate browser

[chscag]

I frankly did not know you could do that with Firefox. I may have to give Firefox another try.

 

[Cr00zng]

With the recent (almost unfathomable) decision by congress (here in the U.S.) to allow ISP's to spy on users and sell their information, many folks have turned to the TOR network to maintain their anonymity. (TOR randomly bounces your communications between a network of servers, so you can't be traced.) The TOR folks offer a browser that uses the TOR network by default with no add-ons necessary:

TOR Browser (free)
https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en

Just the TOR browser alone does not really provide anonymity, due to the DNS queries that the browser makes to the ISP's DNS server. Adding DNSCrypt to the device in question is an improvement, but the ISP will know the first hop, or TOR gateway's IP address. Based on today's environment, that in itself could raise the suspicion of "What are you hiding?" Unfortunately, this is the world we live in the US.

I've been using TOR, both in Windows and Macs for years and based on my experience, more and more ISPs slow down and/or outright block access to TOR gateways. Not to mention that more and more websites require completing Captcha for TOR gateways's IP address, or last last hop before accessing the website.

TOR combined with DNSCrypt is still better from the privacy perspective, than any of the VPN services, free or paid for. Just don't believe that it is fully protecting you...

 

[Cr00zng]

Just a note about Firefox and privacy...

I don't believe that a browser that has in its configuration 24 connections to Google is really that concerned about privacy. Here's the output of "about:config" for Firefox, searching for the word "Google":



Yes, the above is modified to remove all of the Google URLs. No, this is without my tinfoil hat on, but I can put it on if you'd want to... ;D

This is routinely done on my systems and did notice faster startup time for Firefox...

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Just a note about Firefox and privacy...

I don't believe that a browser that has in its configuration 24 connections to Google is really that concerned about privacy. Here's the output of "about:config" for Firefox, searching for the word "Google":

Connecting to Google's "SafeBrowsing" isn't a security problem. In fact, it is the exactly opposite of a security problem.

Just about all Macintosh browsers (even those from most third parties) license and have built-in Google's "Safe Browsing" technology, which automatically protects you from malicious Web sites.

Google's "Safe Browsing" technology protects you from poisoned Web sites, drive-by downloads, and phishing sites:
Inside Safari 3.2?s anti-phishing features | Macworld
Error 404 (Not Found)!!1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Safe_Browsing
The technology is frequently updated and seamlessly pushed out to browsers.

In fact, if you encounter a malicious Web site, and you want to report it and have Google protect others from it, you can do so here:

Phishing
https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_phish/?hl=en

Malware
https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_badware/?hl=en

 

[Cr00zng]

Connecting to Google's "SafeBrowsing" isn't a security problem. In fact, it is the exactly opposite of a security problem

And where did I state, that Google Safe Browsing is a security problem? My post had been about the privacy implication of the Google Safe Browsing.

It's a free service that most browsers use, except the Microsoft browsers. And just like any other free services, it can be used for tracking endusers' activities and/or identify them and their location. Just like Google Safe Browsing does, quote from the Firefox "about:config":

https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?client=%NAME%&hl=%LOCALE%&site=

I did warn in my previous post about tinfoil hat, didn't I? ;D

 

[Randy B. Singer]

... just like any other free services, it can be used for tracking endusers' activities and/or identify them and their location.

That assumes that every browser developer, even those with a huge concern for user privacy, are happy to use Google's SafeBrowsing technology even though it tracks users. I have to assume that all of the browser developers vetted Google's offering and wouldn't include it with their product unless they felt that it didn't do that. If it did, it would be a huge scandal for at least certain browser developers.

If you have any *PROOF* that SafeBrowsing tracks users, I encourage you to write an article about it and have it published somewhere.