Computer/Network security and WebRTC

I was looking at security for my network set-up. Made aware that there is yet another security problem but this time with browsers. It is called WebRTC. Actually it is a process that provides browsers and mobiles with real-time capability and so supposedly 'enriching' the experience. Yeah, but it also comes with a problem. First of all, if users use a VPN it is possible that the 'real' IP address is leaked. Web browsers tend to implement WebRTC in such a way that it allows them to send requests to so-called STUN Servers which will return your local and public IP address. The requested results are available in Javascript, making them much more accessible. It is not the VPN  we are using but it is with the browser (Firefox, Chrome and a few more). It is called a Web leak. Can we do anything? Yes, we can. Most of us use Firefox and this allows us to stop WebRTC as most of us don't really need it. Type "about:config" in the Firefox address bar (without the apostrophes), scroll down and look for the entry - 'media.peerconnection.enabled' and change the value from true to false. This will stop the possible WebRTC leaks. To check whether your set-up does 'leak', do the following. Use the tools that are available - Browserleaks will check for WebRTC leaks with their leak test tool.
In the case of browsers where WebRTC can’t be disabled, you need to use third-party browser add-ons or extensions to solve the problem. If you use Chrome, download uBlock Origin or use the available Chrome extension. It is the same solution for Opera although use the Opera extension and not Chrome's. Or you can change to a VPN service like ExpressVPN that have a built-in rule. I must say - stay away from free VPN services. Why? Well, even if you do all the browser set-ups the data that you still provide will be used on a commercial basis and sold.
By the way - even mobiles (Android) suffer from this so do the same for your mobile!
Lastly, everyone ought to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network), and in doing so, hide your real IP address and even come from a different country. There can be some interesting quirks that if you do change to a 'foreign' server you can get replies and websites in their language. But I find generally speaking that this is rare. Have fun.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where are the aliens?

  The question and Answer software called ‘Quora’ had some quite interesting debate about aliens. I am bowled over by how many, and some are quite educated, believe in aliens. Particularly that they have been here and not just that, are still here and doing great intelligent things like making crop circles. I have to be honest here and say that yes there are aliens except we will never see or hear them. As probability will tell you that with trillions of galaxies, having billions of stars the likelihood of other life is near to 100%. The problem is that life such as ours on Earth needs to move but in such a way as is possible on Earth. That is to say, a gravity of 1, oxygen to breathe and food of a kind that is digestible. The next thing to consider is movement, meaning star travel. It is pretty clear that life such as on Earth is not really around in our solar system. We might find some microbes but that’s about it . The distances between the star systems even
Read more

Is there such a thing as mind-control?

One of my favourite author’s Scott Mariani. Writing explosive stories with the great character he created, Benedict Hope. The latest gung-ho story called The Moscow Cipher actually highlights one of the things that has bothered a lot of people. That of mind-control. I’ve wondered about that as well since even in this country that is a process carried out. It is not a bloody affair as depicted in the book but nevertheless computers, the power of the chip has made it so much easier to influence the minds of the general public. Fake news, little bits of untruths here and there. No hesitation in deluding the general public. Just read, listen and make your mind up. All done in the name of “the truth would harm us all”. But will it? . We have smart phones. With chips that know where we are, what we do and what we say. And yes, it is logged somewhere. We have been rail-roaded into using Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp. Google knows more about you than the taxman or even your partner and that
Read more

Is humanity performing euthanasia on itself?

Looking at the happenings in the Middle East I wonder how suddenly Hamas, i.e the de-facto army of the so-called Palestinian state, took it upon themselves to invade Israel. It cannot be a coincidence that Russia needed some pressures, not in Ukraine but somewhere else to take away the limelight on them. W here better than the Middle East. I am virtually certain that one way or another there are political shenanigans afoot. What IS Palestine exactly? I know about Bedouins, Arabs and Jews, are these not all one and the same? Sure, there are different religions but if you look very closely there are great similarities. It is stupid of most of us not to notice but three of the most followed religions are all based on the same precedents. So w here does the term Palestine come from, I might ask. There was the Ottoman empire, and prior to that the Roman. Prior to that Alexander rampaged through the area. Prior to that we had Egyptians, Hittites and God knows what else. Even monkeys held sw
Read more