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Browser Private Modes Not So Private After All
CWmike writes "Browsing in 'private mode" isn't as private as users think, reports Gregg Keizer. 'There are some traces left behind [by all browsers] that could reveal some of the sites that you've been to,' said researcher Collin Jackson. He, along with three colleagues, will present their findings on Tuesday at the Usenix Security Symposium in DC. IE, Firefox and Safari, for instance, leave traces of SSL encryption keys even when run in private mode, while IE and Safari on Windows preserve self-signed SSL certificates in a 'vault' file that could be read by others to track the browser's path. Firefox also retains evidence of some certificates. Private mode has also been billed as a way for users to hide themselves from the prying eyes of sites that try to track habits and histories. Jackson said most users see that as the biggest attraction to private mode. 'Some browsers do a better job of protecting you from other types of scenarios, such as Web site tracking,' Jackson said. 'Safari is very much more willing to reveal you to Web sites than the others.'"
Shocker! Say it ain't so!
How many more of these until Browser jokes around here end with "Safari!" instead of "Internet Explorer!"? At least IE takes security seriously nowadays...
(You'll never find a vulnerability in my Mosaic! Ha ha! Security through obsolescence!)
I mean, as long as your wife/girlfriend can't track your porno sites with ease you're fine.
If your wife/girlfriend is a CS major with cryptology in her repertoire though... might want to find a different 'hobby'.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
"Jackson said most users see that as the biggest attraction to private mode."
Nonsense. The biggest attraction of private mode is that hotteennymphosexkittens.com doesn't show up in the suggestions when someone borrows your computer to check Hotmail.
If you want real privacy you shouldn't be trusting a web browser privacy mode.
Youtube might be more relevantly incriminating than Hotmail.
0 = 1 + e^(Alt something)
So private mode is good enough for me!
As a test I went to a couple of sites of ill repute and watched a couple of free videos, then cleared my Firefox cache. Afterwards, I searched my computer for .flv and .mp4 files and couldnt find anything, so to the casual search most of you should be safe with your
Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
I cannot believe how lazy the porn people are. It has been like a whole minute and that site is STILL not up.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
But...who are we hiding from?
Nice try but you're not going to find out that easily.
To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem. ~ h2g2
But the FBI/CIA/NSA have ways of reading even zeroed drives! (so I hear) Will we ever be safe??
That's why I one them instead. I've never heard that they can read a oned drive. :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
I run a virtual machine on a live CD, then restore the snapshot, reboot the machine, snap the CD in half, attach a high powered electromagnet to the tower, then burn down the building.
What? No TrueCrypt?
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
Why are you looking at his /dev/null? That is as hard core as it gets.
We fight our fear of an empty internet?
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
I use Lynx.
and a really vivid imagination.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Jason Bourne, is that you?
I telnet into the servers, and type out the headers by hand.