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New Web Browser Leaves No Footprints
eastbayted writes "InfoWorld reports a new web browser designed to protect users privacy is available for download. Called Browzar, it 'automatically deletes Internet caches, histories, cookies and auto-complete forms.' It also boasts a search engine, which the company will use to generate income. The 264KB application is the brainchild of Ajaz Ahmen, known for creating the U.K.'s first ISP Freeserve. The forthcoming version is for Windows only, but Mac and Linux versions will be available eventually."
This will be on work laptops across the world.
Surfing for porn on the company's own hardware is a difficult problem to solve because you know that the machine's going to hang up on you right in the middle of some huge download and you're going to have to take that dead machine down to IT where they will come to know all about your little addiction.
With this software, you can be sure you're clean even when the PC crashes.
They selling stock?
Safari has a 'Private Browsing' mode that creates no history, cookies, cache.
"new web browser designed to protect users privacy..."
Sounds Good
"...automatically deletes Internet caches, histories, cookies and auto-complete forms..."
Sounds Good
"...The 264kb application..."
Nice!
"is the brainchild of Ajaz Ahmen, [creator of] Freeserve."
D'oh!
Freeserve was far from the UK's first ISP. There were hundreds of ISPs, including large players like Pipex, Demon, Compuserve and AOL in the UK, along with much smaller ones like Eclipse before Freeserve came along.
Freeserve was the first ISP not to charge a monthly fee, but not the first to exist.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Hmm, firefox again, with the "clear private data" on the tools menu...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heatseek
;P
At least they are more upfront with their mission...
One that hath name thou can not otter
I wonder if Google Toolbar works with it?
I'm not trying to be an OSS zealot here (honestly), but how does this do anything that Firefox doesn't do already? Preferences/Options, Privacy, Clear Private Data tool settings button. (The way to get there might be different in the Windows version, but you get the idea.) You can have it blow away history, forms, passwords, download history, cookies, cache data, and authenticated HTTP sessions automatically when you quit. And a few of those can be disabled outright from the start. And of course, Safari has a similar option too.
God it's slow! Prevented me from getting my usual first post.
;-)
I suggest you download the black themed browzar - simply because they don't charge a $150 premium just to change the color to black like some other companies
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
This reminds me of what happened to me once, when I was manning a booth at a conference trying to convince people to use Linux. We tried to get people to buy a Knoppix LiveCD from us to try it out. So, two people came and were mostly intersted in the fact that if they use the LiveCD to browse the web, none of their data is saved anywhere.
Regarding this "Browsar", does it delete all caches/cookies, or not save them at all? Because just deleting can be not secure enough unless you do it very carefully. Also, what about the swap? Is it deleted or avioded?
Make even shorter URLs - 8LN.org
A business model based on a feature that can be handled as a plugin or update to Firefox and IE is not sound.
It is unlikely that they developed a modern web browser from scratch.
e mes.www.navigateurs/browse_frm/thread/19f96a99deb3 0fc1/76965389104729e7?lnk=st&q=browzar&rnum=2#7696 5389104729e7
There is no indication on their web site that it is based on anything though.
http://www.browzar.com/
I found this one message on google groups (in french) which indicates it is based on Internet Explorer.
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/fr.comp.infosyst
Anyone know any better?
Every man for himself, all in favour say "I"
Is this gecko, KHTML or WebKit based? Can someone run strings or is the exe packed?
When returning from work one day I was greeted with an icy welcome and the rather tricky question "did you find any dirty college sluts then?"
But does it work well on a USB flash drive? From the description it seems like it might. Anyone have an idea?
Most browsers already give you options to allow you to not store most of this information already. Firefox has a key combo to (transparently, optionally) wipe out selected areas of this data. Someone mentioned an option for Safari. Opera probably has something too somewhere.
When i tried to run it under wine, the first thing it did was ask me to download mozilla active x :) ;)
Looks like they use embedded mozilla's browser engine, which is good i guess
although that makes it not only 264KB!
"Embed the Mozilla browser engine (Gecko) into any ActiveX application. This control implements the same APIs as the Internet Explorer control making porting of existing applications reasonably straightforward."
(However, i was not able to run it under my wine build.)
I dont need such a browser when i can just ctrl+shift+del under ff, but its nice to have a
264kB +(how much mozilla active x?well, still small) web browser.
If this thing is 264K, and it (mostly) works, where are the other X megs of other browsers?
Someone chime in with a Acid report.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
ok, does it delete your IP address from the web server logs too? No? Ok, I guess it doesn't protect your privacy.
1) It's closed source. So even if we assume good intentions on the authors' part, not many people have had a chance to scruitinize the code for weaknesses. The recent flap about how "wiped" mobile phones can still have their databases recovered is an example of this issue actually happening.
2) It sounds like it only keeps the local computer clean of history. Which I guess is good if you don't want your boyfriend to find out you like the whole Furbie sex scene. But when you're later divorcing him because he won't put on a chipmunk suit, and his attorney subpoenas Yahoo to get records of your search history, you're not protected. I think to be protected from THIS sort of thing the browser ought to default to using an anonymizer proxy.
Ok. I just posted this to them as an example of why people should be very, very careful, but it's funny enough I should share it here.
A few years ago I was doing IT consultancy in London, and a client had a problem with her PC all acting funny.
I went along, it was the secretary/receptionist's PC so she moved over, and sat next to me watching what I was doing as I investigated.
I found a suspicious DLL beginning with 'S' running on the system, so I did what you would normally do, do a google search and see what it comes up with.
As soon as I typed the first 'S', up pops good old google autocomplete:
"STD clinic london"
I typed as fast as I could and hoped she didn't notice!
Turned out her PC had a virus too.
Jolyon
Please read my Canon EOS tech blog at http://www.everyothershot.com
Hmm, I tried it, it seems that Browzar doesn't execute 'input type="submit"'-buttons.
Anyone else noticed this?
Opera 9.0 > clear user record. voila.
"It also boasts a search engine, which the company will use to generate income."
Why do I have a feeling that you'll leave "footprints" on its search engine.
(And they sure need some way to create revenue since there's no reason to use their browser.)
There's a Firefox plugin that does the same thing. Stealther claims to do the same thing, but what I don't know is how well it really covers its tracks. A forensic investigation into a hard drive can easily reveal browsing history, even if one cleans his or her history and deletes cookies, etc. I have heard of a browser that actually "shreds" this information (similar to Eraser but I can't seem to find any information on this browser.
-Arthur
Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules
I realize there are sometimes good reasons to support anonymous browsing, like for whistleblowers, etc. But I wonder if the costs outweigh the benefits?
I keep on seeing these stats about huge numbers of married guys who feel addicted to porn. That is, they know it's causing them relationship problems, but they feel they can't stop. And hiding their browsing history is a major modus operandi for them to continue their behavior.
Yes, I realize there's a possibility that these guys would find some other venue even if they didn't have browsers that hide history. And yes, we certainly have a RIGHT to not be denied tools just because some people can't handle them. (E.g. alcohol, gambling, WoW.) I'm not asking whether or not we have a right to build such tools - I'm asking whether or not building such tools is the most excellent way to conduct ourselves.
Protect my privacy, but sell my search results?
This guy's the limit!
It's like with knowledge. The problem is not the existance of the tools (or having the knowledge), the responsibility lies in applying it. You can use it, should the need arise. You can also not use it. The choice is yours.
I do firmly believe in the personal freedom to do as you choose as long as nobody gets hurt. Tools should exist. Knowledge should be available. Take them and use them as you see fit, and let your conscience (or whatever is used to make an informed decision) be the judge whether and when to apply it.
Just because abuse is possible doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. Security comes from knowlege. Not ignorance. It's like with guns, if you outlaw something "bad", only the "bad" people will have and use it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Given that it autocompletes, I don't see that it can be that good about removing traces of where you've been...
what idea is to have a browser that deletes cookies and other _usefull_ things on the client side? cache is made so that less data has to be transfered. cookies are usefull for websites to let you remember request(parts). the real footprints are not left locally in the browser but on servers that keep their transmission logs for some time and providers that cache your IP's. therefore you do not have any influence on privacy on the net. but like in real life, what's the matter about privacy, if you do things with a good conscience and don't mind if others see what you do?
It just a simple front end for IE. There are already plug ins to do this in Windows with other browsers and at least then you wouldn't be browsing with IE so the pages would look nicer. This seems like a bit of a waste/ploy/piece of junk.
1 (short ton / firkin) = 89.1432354 slugs / keg
Tools > Clear Private Data
Alternatively you can go Preferences > Security and assign the Clear Private Data function a keyboard shortcut or set it to clear when you close Firefox.
Even better still, you can go to Preferences > Security and go through the 6 tabs and tell it no history, no form info, no passwords, no download history, no cookies, no disk cache... That way if someone mugs you while you're on your computer, the worst they can do is go back a few pages... but with no cache and cookies, it shouldn't keep you logged into any secure sites.
Why is this story news? Most browsers feature a history clearing features?
Oh, and the included search engine partnerships to generate money... If they're making money, they're logging something... c'mon people, that's common sense!
Why not create an extension for an existing browser (Firefox?), instead of making a whole new software product? I mean... when I read the title, I thought about any new miraculous anonymity mechanism... People love to "sell" existing things as if they were new concepts... And... what's this article doing here?
"We tried to get people to buy a Knoppix LiveCD from us... "
Good for a laugh first thing in the morning. Thanks!
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Forensic Investigation
It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
I guess that explains the "automatically deletes Internet caches, histories, cookies and auto-complete forms" bit.
If you made a browser from scratch you could just not implement those features...
Tiny .EXE that uses "already-installed-on-all-windows-boxes" IE engine... Suggest you better get some real browser.
..... and I can't find a link to download the source code.
So-called "security" software without source code is worse than useless -- and would be outlawed if we had a sensible Minister for Information Technology. The information it's claiming to be hiding could be valuable, so there's a clear motive to lie about what it's doing -- and hiding the source code provides an obvious means. I, for one, wouldn't give it the opportunity.
I have set Firefox to ask me every time about cookies. As soon as I see a "__utma" or a "h2" cookie, I know at once the owners of that site have absolutely no concern for my privacy, and simply block all cookies from that site. Otherwise I usually accept cookies for the session only.
I also keep my day-to-day login password as secret as any of my root passwords, and always set up a brand new user account if anyone ever wants to use one of my computers for anything.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
They need to overwrite the contents of the file with zeros.
I already have a browser that leaves no footprints - Firefox Portable. Loaded on my 1GB Swiss Army knife the only thing it leaves on the host machine is a pluginreg.dat - which contains nothing about my internet use.
we see things not as as they are, but as we are.
-- anais nin
Great! Now I don't have to worry about the huge threat cookies have to my machine (approximately 0%), and can inconvenience myself by having to type in my password every time I want to post as me on Slashdot or any other internet community. I also don't have to worry about finding that Google search I made a few days ago that had the exact wording that yielded some pretty useful results, because I don't have history! Thank you "auto-privacy"!
Then again, in IE7 I can just go Tools -> Delete Browsing History and have it clear itself out when I actually do need to get rid of something and not everything. But that's insecure, right?
I'll subscribe to Slashdot when I see a month without a dupe, a typo, or an article the "editors" didn't read.
. . . does it still leave the difficult to blow away INDEX.DAT files?
I too have felt the cold finger of injustice.
So many people are posting the same comment..."every browser can clear this data". Sure. However, if I were to, say, surf pr0n on my mother's PC, I think she might be a little unhappy to find her passwords, auto-completes, history etc wiped so I could hide my shame. This sucker fits on a thumb drive, or is a 1 second download from anywhere. I think mum might prefer me to use this rather than take a magnet to her web-life.
1. Enter IE, go google.com, logoff if necessary, close IE
2. open browzar, go google.com, autheticate with your gmail account
3. close browzer
4. open IE, go google.com.... still authenticated!!!
perhaps it needs some more debugging.
hth
Quick check with process explorer shows that it uses mshtml.dll as well as MFC.
Probably why it crashes when run on WINE. It does say "The last time you ran Browzar the software experienced an error and your last session closed unexpectedly", and gives you the option reload or not reload your last session, which is nice. Sadly, that is all I could see on my system.
seems like it's using the internet explorer ... weeeeh.
render engine then
oh, im using firefox with no cache (all on teh server),
with history set to ZERO, all cockies delete on close
via squid that strips "VIA", "FORWARD" and "browser-agent" headers.
some websites complain bigtime if they get no "browser-agent".
serves them right.
Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but the FAQ says
Each time you run Browzar it places a simple text file on your computer which contains a date and time stamp of the precise moment your Browzar session began. Normally this file is deleted automatically when you close Browzar, but in the event of a crash this file remains on the computer. All you need to do is run Browzar again immediately after the crash and Browzar will clean up anything left over from the crash by checking the time and date stamp and removing everything after that that point.
The fact that this process is necessary, and that something would be 'left over' in the event of a crash suggests that it does write stuff to disk and then deletes it again later, rather than just not hitting the disk to start with. Not that secure then really, and if it is based on IE I wonder if it shares the same temp-files folder, cookies folders, and uses index.dat? Plenty of scope for browsing traces to 'leak' into IE if this thing crashes and you don't remember to re-run it to clean up after itself.
If you wanted to catch people doing unethical things, the best thing to do would be to create software or services that promise to hide information and then collect information about the users. To get around that, the source needs to be audited by someone, and for this kind of product, that means that the application needs to be open source.
It uses the engine of IE to render pages, that's why it's so small. This kind of project would take a good programmer a week or so. This buddy knows how to get good press for nothing. No footprint? All right, but this guy does not talk about security in his site. Linux? Mac? Sure! if enough people insists and he's got enough money he will think about it! Sure Send email!
Crap!
Donde Ser Geek No Duele
It's even better, because the only thing stored to disk are your bookmarks, so no need to remove a thing
(well, maybe to the swap partition, but this is unavoidable).
Ditching your browser history stuffs is easy. The real problems are the shit IE/WMP throws in the users profiles index.dat file, and the shit WMP throws around when playing movies inline/downloaded. So, unless this browser also gets WMP to stop that, you're still going to get busted.
That said, it is a nice little exe to toss on the USB thumbdrive.
Why would anyone want a Mac version? I can just about see users not knowing how to delete their IE cache, but "Private Browsing" in Safari takes three mouse clicks to enable.
I sure hope this browser doesn't just disable cookies, but just doesn't store them. For a lot of websites you need to have session-cookies!
My blog: http://www.redcode.nl
This is not a Web browser -- it's one of the thousands of MSIE wrappers, created for the sole purpose of generating cash to this guy. (Actually, the file size is HUGE when you consider what it needs to do!)
Go get Opera and run it in "kiosk" mode or something instead. This "browser" is useless.
Nice icon that in the dialog box - remind anyone of any well-know browser?
ooo Ouch!
Nice tale!
You see! thats why you should always internet access at home, so that you can look at that kind of thing there! Hehe.
>>>Scanning for I.D.I.O.T.S. >>>
>>>I.D.I.O.T.S. FOUND! >>>
My first impressions of this browser aren't very good.. I've noticed something very strange.
I pushed 'Run' and got a nice looking black browser with their own search-engine.
But I usually use Google, so I typed in 'www.google.com'. And the first thing I notice in the top corner:
'myemail@google.com | Personal Homepage | etc'
Google sees that I'm surfing to their website..! And they can't be locating me by my IP because I'm behind a firewall inside my company's network. (right?) So it probably just uses IE in the background or something (?!)
Or is there another explanation?
My blog: http://www.redcode.nl
they used 0845 dialling codes - non-geographic number, billed as a local call that gave a very small (fractions of a penny) kickback per minute to calls made to them on it.
It just cant be perfect, wait for few months and it will be full of holes wich hackers will be using. It's just fresh stuff at the moment. Soon it will be forgotten :D
>If the text is to be believed, it does 1 thing firefox doesn't.
>Fit on a 5.5" DSDD Floppy.
You may find it difficult sticking that 5.5" square in the 5.25" hole.
tar czf moz.tgz .mozilla/ .mozilla/ -exec shred -u {} \; .mozilla/
# browse "special interest sites, then quit firefox
find
sudo tar zxf
# voila!
# Maybe even
swapoff $swap_var
shred $swap_var
mkswap $swap_var
swapon $swap_var
# Good enough for me.
I have a "safe" profile on my Firefox browser at home that I use for this sort of thing. That profile has its preferences set to not cache, keep cookies for session only and delete them at the end, has no bookmarks, doesn't run javascript, and so forth. "Browzar" would be better if it actually avoided writing to the disk at all, but apparently it writes and then deletes.
Isn't that the same?
2*3*3*3*3*11*251
apart from the big muddy ones stomped all over it here! Too many flaws to mention Too much negative comment to read further It's an IE skin which does nothing new and there's bound to be some monetization scheme eventually - are there Google adverts in hidden IFrames lurking under that header bar I wonder!?!
Which includes slashdot and loads of other sites Apperently, it's down to Google Analytics http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/27574
Funny +5 ?
:-)
I don't find it funny at all, but then, I am over 18
No but, yeah but, no but...
And for anyone who wants to try a preconfigured Tor-based Firefox VMware appliance (making your surfing not only anonymous, but segmented from the host machine) you can find a torrent at http://www.mininova.org/tor/408257.
Browse from within a virtual machine. Then don't save its state when you exit. BTW, this is also a nice way to avoid catching viruses or other malware.
The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
You will need a PC running a minimum of Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), with a minimum of Explorer (IE) 5.5.
Is this application dependent on IE? What's that all about?
Content Management System: A pretentious way of saying "text editor."
All companies from the dawn of time until right about now, have used the protected-property model to try their shot at making a living.
In the world of physical products, examine a calculator. Perfect commodity, now.
Suppose someone adds a particular variety of limited-email so you can email calculation results.
For some quantity of limited time, they have a Feature. (Regardless of how sloppy it might be.)
Then when it comes time to make the building lease payment, they have to sell their calculator as "the only one with the Feature." To be the sole owner of the Feature long enough to make a month's lease payment, Company keeps it closed source.
The following month, someone has had time to replicate the Feature, then it becomes a race to see whether the sweatshop is cheaper in China or Argentina.
Though flawed, the RIAA is the poster citizen of this problem. "If the content is digital, and everyone has it, how do *I* make my rent *now*?
No one has thundered through with the Perfect Answer. The first companies to do so within each category will make a killing. Until then, we are debating "which flaw is the lesser of 4 evils".
--TaoPhoenix
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
So, did you score?
You can also try using a vmware based Tor browsing appliance if you're really paranoid (segmented from host machine, routes traffice through Tor, doesn't save anything on the virtual disk when shutdown), like the one I'm seeding http://www.mininova.org/tor/408257.
Firefox on Ubuntu and you have a vmware appliance you can get from http://www.mininova.org/tor/408257.
wouldn't it be cool if he adopted the name "Ajax Amen"? i mean, it's like he'd be truly faithful to Web2.0...
I don't feel like it...
Just mount your .mozilla (or indeed your entire home directory) using something like EncFS.
That way, you can keep all your cookies and history, but no-one else can get at them. (Well,
unless you pick a weak passphrase... but you don't do that, right?)
A browser I can use on my laptop when Jesus is carrying me across the beach.
SSH into your own box, and surf p0rn sites with lynx. what? you don't go there just to read the articles?
Yeah, really not funny. I feel bad for the girl.
- tom -
Now THAT'S funny.
From the website.
Life is not for the lazy.
Freeserve was *not* the first UK ISP. They started about 10 years after Pipex & Demon got going.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Avant Browser (http://www.avantbrowser.com/). It sounds like it works exactly the same as this program (uses IE's renderer API and allows you to block images/flash and cleanup cookies/etc when you close the program). It is a little bit larger than this browzar claims to be, but I remember when it used to be under a MB (getting close to 2 MB now as they add features like tabbed browsing and mouse gestures).
Dont use browzar. It is spyware!! :
As you already know "Browzar" is actually an IE extension , so do the following trick to expose the spying
1. Open an Internet Explorer (NOT BROWZAR!!) window and go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Security -> Custom Settings...
2. Select "Prompt" in the "Allow Paste operations via script" option
(Btw This options disables the "feature" that IE has to remote-copy your cliboard contents (more on this here)
3. Save and close IE
4.Now open the Browzar browser and go to ANY wabepage you like. ANY WEB PAGE!! Select a text and try to copy it (ctrl+c or right-click copy)
5. Be very afraid
You could ship a 20k script that sets up Firefox or IE (via group policy) to do exactly the same thing.
A whole new browser? Give me a fucking break. I remember how shitty Freeserve was and still is, okay?
So it's going to delete cookies...so what? Article says they're forming a partnership with Yahoo to share search engine revenue. Even without cookies Yahoo can still use IP addresses and build a search history. As the recent AOL gaffe shows, that data can be quite revealing. If the makers of this new browser really cared about privacy they wouldn't be looking to grab search engine revenue.
Penny - plain text accounting
Safari for Mac OS X has a 'Private Browsing' option that does exactly that. Doesn't cache, store cookies, or remember anything about what you've done once you've done it. And it's already available for Mac!
Of course, Internet Explorer does this sometimes, but it's more of a random thing, deletes everything, history, favourites, cookies etc. Happens every once in a while, I thought it was a bug, but maybe it's a 'feature'.
Lynx. effin illiterate
If you're on a mac, using safari, you just click on the 'Safari' menu item, then click on 'Reset Safari'. Viola, all of that stuff is erased for you. There are also a dozen utility programs that do this for you too.
No, there's another web browser called 'links' =P
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
It would help if the article was quoted properly.
Freeserve was the UKs first FREE ISP (only pay the call costs).
It was not the first ISP in the UK.
Torpark ( http://torpark.nfshost.com/ ) runs portably, clears all cached data (which is minimal in the first place) on close, and unlike the browser from TFA, it sets up a Tor circuit, giving you at least some chance of keeping the browsing you'd like to be private out of anyone's IP logs (and request/response logs if they're really anal).
Also, when Torpark is running, you can use the virtual proxy it sets up via Socks - e.g., you can set IE to use Torpark as its proxy server, as long as there's a gateway straight out of your LAN.
Torpark leaves your FF and IE history intact; the only inconvenience is that since Torpark *is* built on top of portable Firefox, you'll have to close your other FF instance when firing it up.
More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpark.
Pi Ran Out
Mac folks already have this with Safari in OS X 10.4 (Tiger).
No new browser needed.
Just Enable Safari -> Private Browsing.
You want true anonymity? Give me a browser that hides my IP and MAC address. Then that's going to really hide my identity from websites. It's only a matter of time before people start tracking you by MAC address.
Just to correct a point of fact in the article: Freeserve was not the first ISP in the UK. It may have been the first 'free' ISP, although I'm not even certain about that.
Slashdot has got it wrong here. The original article was more accurate, though it wasn't very well worded.
(* by 'free', they meant not having a subscription charge. They still made plenty of money from call charges)
Firefox 2, beta 2 now natively has the option to "Always clear my private data when I close Firefox".
i refox/releases/2.0b2/win32/en-US/Firefox%20Setup%2 02.0%20Beta%202.exe
Personally, I'd sooner use an established open-source browser (despite it currently being in the beta stage) than something IE based.
Get FF beta 2 @ http://ftp-mozilla.netscape.com/pub/mozilla.org/f
just in case you're interested. I'd imagine an official notice will follow shortly, but there's none currently.
throw new NoSignatureException();
Well, for starters, its not 100% compatible with Slashdot and there is no right click for it. Useless if you ask me, but great for where I work. In my school district, this would save us so much time from teachers downloading crap they weren't supposed to, espically images. They have gigs and gigs of downloaded .gif images from the web stored on our servers.
Click Click Bloody Click PANCAKES!
I wonder if they keep the browser from advertising things like the software and OS used to surf the hosting servers and/or IP/MAC address of the packets... Does it do an anon. proxy thing? There are much more subtle footprints than cache and history - those are only the "desktop end" of the footprint and are by far the "least important" in terms of following the tracks of someone from the admin/investigative end. Of course, it must be nice for parents to know that their kids can download this tiny app and stash it somewhere where Mom and Dad will never find it and surf all the porn they want when they're not home and there's next to no way (aside from keyloggers and/or "filter" software) to know where they went and what they did...
-- "You must be the change you desire to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi --
Didn't fdisk.com have a java browser (that looked exactly like Netscape) Did that save anything?
Have you read my journal today?
"No browsing history, stored files, or cookies"
I call BS on the no cookie comment. I downloaded Browzar just to see what it looked like, sent it to my site only to find that I was logged in. So, I logged out of my site in Opera (my default browser) and refreshed the page in Browzar and found I was still logged in. So I opened up IE (which I use for testing) and see that I was logged in with it. Hit the log out button, refreshed Browzar and found that I had been logged out.
I decided to completely delete my cookies... Opera, IE, Firefox... opened up my site with Browzar and logged in (which I knew would try and set a cookie). What do you know... a cookie was created in C:\Documents and Settings\\Cookies. Closed Browzar and opened it back up and navigated to my site to find that I was still logged in.
Went to Google, and guess what. Another cookie was set. Surprise, surprise.
Trick: start all searches with something like "-zkdivjsdidf whatever else"
As soon as I typed the first 'S', up pops good old google autocomplete:
"STD clinic london"
I turn off all of that autocomplete crap, but does anyone really find the lack of privacy, potential for embarrassment, and the frequency of auto completing the wrong thing better than having Google say "Did you mean ___?" or just typing a few words?
I've simply never found any of this autocomplete stuff a feature. I search for so much stuff (99.999% of it in a Google search bar accessible via Apple-L, TAB, type hit return) that I just don't see how it could be any quicker any other way.
Now, the fun of seeing "STD clinic london" merely enough for everyone to not have this feature. For all we know this was for her cousin or something or for a book she is writing, but its still embarrassing and unnecessary to have such info flying back at you all the time.
And if you don't have root at work, are running Windows, and there's no BIOS password and/or CD Boot is enabled, you can always make an NT Password Reset disk. No relation to the creator - just a happy customer. And, yes, I've always used the thing for white-hat purposes.
-b.
Oh... and no it doesn't go in and delete the cookies when you close it. I opened Browzar back up to find myself still logged into my site.
I've tested this on various sites, without using any other browser. The cookies are indeed there.
My mistake on the above reply. It does delete the cookies after you close, provided that you don't have IE open...
RTFS people as it says the company will use the search results to generate income.
My question is this: What information is going to be included in the search info sent to their servers?
Viral Marketing
That's exactly what in hell this product appears to be. Simply put, it's a virus/trojan that appears to be a privacy browser (remember the pribrowser trojan?).
firefox already can do this with just a couple settings
I'm probably not a typical user, since I do development on web applications so I'm constantly typing the same URL - the login page for the application I'm currently working on. I find it very convenient to be able to type two letters then hit the down arrow and return, but if the feature wasn't there, I guess I could just bookmark the page. As it is, I don't find the need for bookmarks because autocompletion does the job. Autocompletions for the search box on the other hand, I;ve never really found a use for. Most times when I search, its for something new - things I want all the time I tend to know the URL for, which is one step less than searching and clicking - especially since some search terms I need to go to the second page to get past the search optimization spam.
It's Windows only, eh? That's not a problem because those poor bastards need it more badly than the Mac/*Nix crowd anyways...
Of course, you can always just fire up your botnet and leave someone else's footprints...that's what all the kids are doing.
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
"STD clinic london" I typed as fast as I could and hoped she didn't notice! Turned out her PC had a virus too.
Actually, a lot of people looking for an STD clinic might just be looking for a free place to get testing. I know I go get a spot check every year or so as a "just in case" measure. I'm a lot more comfortable with the prospect of being intimate with someone who I know is concerned about this sort of thing. A lot of people contract STDs from others, because those other people don't bother to find out if they have anything. It's the same thing with condoms. If a girl does not seem interested in using them, who else has she slept with that she wasn't interested in using them with? It is sad that someone who may just be being a responsible person is automatically subjected to this type of stigma.
uh, did I miss something? Or is this April Fool's in August? I thought Firefox, Opera, and Safari already have the ability to delete your private web browsing data. And those three browsers are the only important ones. Anyone who uses Internet Exploder deserves to have their private data posted all over the Internet.
I'd like an Ubuntu image on a thumbdrive that reboots the host PC and uses only the thumbdrive for storage. That way I could use any PC with my own software, ensuring no tracks were left on the host PC because my software is controlling everything, and take the private stuff with me when I go. Without losing my history. I could keep personal info for filling forms and completing transactions on the thumbdrive.
If the Ubuntu image rebooted in seconds as a suspended RAMdisk or hibernate image, it would be convenient enough to do this on demand without slowing down my work.
--
make install -not war
just downloaded the windows version of the browser and ran filemon to watch what it was doing.
it DOES use internet explorer's rendering engine... how can you tell?
because it SAVES all your browsing history to internet explorer's temporary internet files folder... DUH!
this reminds me of my programing windows course back in college (project #1 develop browser based on IE's api).
why not just keep it encrypted? even a moderately strong password would take too much time for most people to get at.
if you're just deleting the data, someone could undelete it. what if the system is turned off in the middle of using it, before the program has a chance to delete the information? (like someone steals your laptop from you while you're using it and runs with it?)
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Other than IE, most every other browser has the option to "delete everything" when you exit the program, I'm not sure how this one will be any different. Maybe it has lower memory footprint that may appeal to those with resource taxed systems.
Maybe you should get on with some work during the day instead of worrying about who can see what you're up to?! It's the usual story, if you're doing nothing wrong, what have you got to hide?
Now get on with some work, you lazy bastards.
Come on This is just IE in a skinned window. So I wonder how he will make the MacOS X and linux version.
What would be nice is if this browser used the Mozilla engine, and had Tor-network support built in, so it would automatically anonymize all traffic through the "Browzar" without affecting any of your other installed apps.
Why can't a special version of Firefox do this? After what I've seen lately, I trust commercial SW products about as much as I trust Microsoft.
It just goes to show that anybody can get publicity for any old crap these days. Tell you what, i've written several browsers that do exactly the same - i've also written a self-contained e-mail client that doesn't store crap everywhere! Big deal!!
Why are people even entertaining this idea? This guy is such a big shot yet he registers his domains through 1&1??? It just goes to show that because you have one crap idea you shouldn't stop there.... keep going with more crap ideas and maybe one day you'll be hailed a genius.
Secure remove (srm) will securely delete the files. Just set up a shellscript with the files and/or directories you want cleaned out and schedule it in cron.
Seems to me that a browser that would spool its files in a ramdisk (with user input as to what you want to hang onto) and automatic use of anonymizers is the real solution.
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain
Firefox already has an extension for this called "Distrust." When it's off, you browse normally, gathering cookies and the usual thang. When it's on, it enters "distrust mode" and takes note of all the cookies added, cache changes, etc. These changes are all deleted when distrust is turned off, or when Firefox exits.
I can't say for certain whether Opera has something like this, and I'm pretty certain IE doesn't, but in any case, what's the point of having yet another browser which touts a "feature" that's already available in a more popular browser?
It seems to me we've been getting a lot of these specialized browsers implemented lately (Flock being another), so I'm rather suspicious about the intent of the developers. (Though maybe it's just paranoia.)
I think you're concerned about uploads.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
Is this EXACTLY like 'Private Browsing' mode in Safari or am I hallucinating again?
Hit Ctrl+Shift+Del (Windows) and choose to make everything private data and check the box to clear it all when you close Firefox.
It sure is based on IE. I ran sysinternal's filemon on browzar - browzar loads IE
12:26:09 PM BrowzarBlackWin:2804 OPEN C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE SUCCESS Options: Open Access: 00100080
I couldn't care less if the IT department sees what's on my work machine--I never do anything I'd be ashamed of at work (except read Slashdot, of course). I'm much more bothered by the fact that Google keeps records of the searches I do at home that could potentially be connected to me.
I know a lot of you think the fact I'm worried about this must put me in the tinfoil hat class (actually, I am usually eveloped in my special invisible home-made Faraday cage). But I think there are sound reasons to be concerned about this. I used to blithely post my...er...somewhat unconventional political opinions (well, opinions on everything, actually) on the Interned under my true name. This was back in the late 80s, and the consequences of that indiscretion--plus other life experiences--have taught me the following:
Perhaps you're wondering why I would be worried that the government might go after me for my pr0n searches. Well, I'm not. I am concerned that some data mining might turn up some of my other interests, e.g., politics, explosives, and firearms. Of course, the latter two are merely theoretical in nature. Mostly.
Great men are almost always bad men--Lord Acton's Corollary
Firefox has a similar feature. Under tools it has a clear private data feature. You can set it so it clears data every time you exit firefox.
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; Media Center PC 2.8; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)
I can already do all this using Opera. Just set it to store 0 pages in the history, a 0 mb cache, etc. and you don't even NEED this thing. Also, I know this has already been said, but Browzar seems to be based on IE, so it can't be anywhere near as secure as Opera. Browzer seems to have trouble with maximizing on my computer, and the close, minimize, and maximize buttons end up hidden under my start menu (my start menu is on the top.) Opera also has a hide to taskbar shortcut (ctrl-h).
The only real use I can see for this is if you're at someone else's computer, and need a quick and easy way to browse the 'net without them knowing about it.
Needless to say, Opera also has all these other nice features (such as tabbed browsing, integrated bittorent client, etc.) which are sadly lacking in Browzar.
This is not a sig. This is a llama-duck. Quack.
Tried it and it functions well enough for plopping on a usb key for browsing @ work...small size too!
Who cares about the browser when your ISP is logging every URL you visit anyway?
I am wondering if this browser is a layer on top of another browser. I mean, I launched the program, it properly rendered webpages, and properly used flash 9 without it having to be installed. It is surprisingly fast. While I have not stressed tested the brower yet, so far it has properly displayed everything I have thrown at it. This surprised me, as it is only 264 kb
You aren't married, are you?
I can't find it now, but there was an article on /. a while back about a girl who dumped her boyfriend after loading Firefox onto her machine and it picked up the password database from his previous installation, which he had deleted to hide his dating site trolling. IIRC, the kicker was that the password database recorded that he didn't want to save a password for those sites, which kind of revealed exactly what he wanted hidden.
Anyways, my point is, something like this is aimed at home/family users with a shared PC environment (read: hubby surfs porn after wifey logs out of her blog-surfing for the night). That isn't to say many stupid people will try to avoid der IT ubermenschen with it, but they'll get what they deserve.
I want to see a LiveCD which you can pop into a machine with two NICs, and it runs giving you:
You would set up your browser to proxy through the SQUID. The whitelist for the TOR router would only route requests and such through TOR for certain IPs/domains you have configured. The P2P search engine would use a spidering approach to check its cache of found sites and return them for searches, but if not found, it would queue up a search to look for it to populate the cache while also sending out the request to others in the grid of users of the system (via TOR or otherwise - the P2P app needs to be at least as secure as FreeNet). Every month your spider would "dance" and re-spider the sites and any others found (maybe it could use google as a seed) to update your cache. It would only be specific to your tastes - the P2P aspect would handle the rest (that is, if you search your personal search using something not in your spidered cache of stuff, it would use the P2P engine to find the results hopefully on the grid - if it doesn't find it, it would use TOR and google to seed itself and cache it).
Your "homepage" would point to this P2P search page (residing on the server - cache is stored on hard drive, possibly encrypted), and when you click on a result, if not already defined, it would "block" it, saying you are going to an "unknown" site - use regular proxy or TOR proxy - to let you set up a filter system whereby for sites you want to remain anonymous about, it TORs you to them.
All of this would also have a web-based configuration system - hell, if they could fit all of this into a WRT54G (is that right) Linux wifi router box, that would be perfect - but such a system may be too heavy for it (dunno).
I figure this would be the minimum thing needed to keep the bastards from seeing what we do and what we search - we need our own private and free search system, even if it isn't as fast or complete as google. TOR and P2P takes care of the rest. Now, I am sure I am missing something, but I think this kind of a system would be a good start. Does anybody else have some suggestions?
The TOR router would be used only b
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Steather works very similar to "Private Browsing" in Safari.
"It ain't a war against drugs.it's a war against personal freedom" --Bill Hicks
It is not possible to delete a file from a HDD, especially when you are using a modern journaled file system, such as Ext3, ReiserFS or NTFS.
So, to be effective at deleting stuff, you need to encrypt your HDD and change the password and if you do that, then you can just as well use any old browser.
http://www.browzar.com/stories/index.html do a search from a block of text in some of the stories and most of them return results from b3ta.com http://b3ta.com/questions/googleruinedmylife/post4 8612/
All browsers can do the same thing. Its called a secure proxy. get one. http://www.mysecureisp.com/
Firefox: .. Poof!
Shift+Control+Delete
This guy thinks so: http://web3.0log.org/2006/09/01/new-secure-browser -browzar-is-fake-and-full-of-adware/
Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
1. Break cookies/cache/autocompleting forms
2. Sell it as a "privacy enhancement"
3. ???
4. Profit!