279
submitted 4 months ago by lemmyreader@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

It was at the Securedrop website. How did I end up there ? I read something about Sequoia and encryption and then wanted to see what Securedrop entailed.

Meanwhile I've raised the security settings. Still, today someone in this community (?) mentioned that Tor browser does not protect the remote to check for the OS, and now this. Color me surprised.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] lemmyreader@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago

Here some proof of my claim that Tor browser useragent string is Windows : https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox/Privacy#Change_user_agent_and_platform

Tip:

The value Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; rv:102.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/102.0 is used as the user agent for the Tor browser, thus being very common.

From five years ago, afaik suggesting Windows is the default : https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/26146

[-] Syn_Attck@lemmy.today 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

~~Tor browser from the arch repos is not stock torbrowser. Add repos for torproject/guardian project/whatever it's called now, or use the torproject.org installer.~~

[-] lemmyreader@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago

Are you saying that Arch Linux is providing Tor browser with a different useragent string ?

[-] Syn_Attck@lemmy.today 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I believe that is the case, if you inspected the HTTP headers and found if to show Linux instead of Windows. my last experience with that would have been years ago. Arch does like to compile things from source instead of using binary blobs, and compilers and configs can undo a lot of the work the torproject has done to combat fingerprinting, which is why it's recommended to run the pre-built binary and install no plugins. However it's important to note that it ALSO gives you a unique JavaScript fingerprint every time, when tools use as much information as possible to generate a fingerprint, because it generates new information on every reload. That's why OPSEC is important and for can't help you if you use it wrong. If you login to 2 different unlinked sites in the same session, and you don't want them to be linked, too bad now they're linked via JS fingerprinting. JavaScript is more or less a programming language within the browser, and you'll never escape JavaScript fingerprinting. Which is why it's important to learn how to use tor properly, and leave JS disabled as much as you can.

One thing you can do with your arch build is use the fingerprinting tool to see how unique you are, then get a new identity, then go back and do it again. Does it now say you're one of 2 people who have used the tool, or does it show you're (again) unique? If the latter, then it's working (at least enough) properly.

[-] lemmyreader@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago

One thing you can do with your arch build is use the fingerprinting tool to see how unique you are, then get a new identity, then go back and do it again. Does it now say you’re one of 2 people who have used the tool, or does it show you’re (again) unique? If the latter, then it’s working (at least enough) properly.

Interesting. I would have expected the useragent string to be part of the user configuration files that are automatically created in the browser profile directory. I've not used Tor browser package from Arch yet but curious to do some testing.

[-] ComradeEd@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 4 months ago

torbrowser-launcher (found in the extra repo) simply downloads Tor Browser from torproject.org, unless you use some AUR version of Tor Browser that recompiles it, you are getting the exact same TB as you would by manually downloading it.

[-] lemmyreader@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago

Thanks. AUR seems to only have a Tor browser bin which does not recompile.

[-] ComradeEd@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Yes it is. Since what the arch repos have is a script to download TB from torproject.org

Add repos for torproject/guardian project/whatever it’s called now, or use the torproject.org installer.

You're thinking of F-Droid (on Android), at least that is what the Guardian Project repo is for.

[-] Syn_Attck@lemmy.today 2 points 4 months ago

Thanks for the correction.

this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2024
279 points (98.6% liked)

Privacy

31223 readers
1457 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

Chat rooms

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS