Replies

Recently I upgraded my Debian Linux OS on this 32 bit machine. I hate reinstalls because of the house cleaning involved in saving the data, so I put it off as long as possible.

Simply upgrading from Debian 8 to Debian 9 is not a simple process, so I did the next best thing and upgraded all of what was available for Debian 8.

But when I upgraded the Firefox browser I found a lot of instability that I did not have before. I had no active plugins (I thought).

In my search for a solution to that I stumbled onto a security issue related to WebRTC. What is that? Looks like a programmers nightmare to me now. It is said to be an improvement allowing java script from one computer to another. But it appears it makes even VPN connections vulnerable to being viewed by a simple java attack.

So I followed the instructions on this page and it seems to have fixed my recent crash issue. I edited the about:config in Firefox and disabled WebRTC. It is a little early to be sure, but I've been planning to add VPN to my connection when I get moved to the farm in the near future. If VPN is not secure because of WebRTC, we should at least know about it.

Any opinions of the merit of this type of software?

1 posted on 04/01/2019 4:31:27 AM PDT by Texas Fossil

To: Texas Fossil

2 posted on 04/01/2019 4:43:09 AM PDT by lysie

Do you have an opinion about WebRTC security issues?

4 posted on 04/01/2019 4:58:19 AM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))

To: Texas Fossil

This has wider implications. Teleconferencing software like Cisco Webex (which companies like mine use all the time) use WebRTC internally.

5 posted on 04/01/2019 5:03:15 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." -- Voltaire)

To: Texas Fossil

Google Duo (video chat for Android). also uses WebRTC

7 posted on 04/01/2019 5:23:44 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." -- Voltaire)

To: Texas Fossil

https://www.palemoon.org/technical.shtml

(...)

“WebRTC. Apart from opening up a whole can of worms security/privacy-wise, “Web Real Time Chat” (comparable with Skype video calls and the likes) is not considered useful or desired functionality for Pale Moon (both according to the developers and the users of the browser at large). This is best left to dedicated programs or at most a browser plug-in.”

(...)

9 posted on 04/01/2019 5:40:58 AM PDT by Moltke (Reasoning with a liberal is like watering a rock in the hope to grow a building.)

To: Texas Fossil

Sending data on the internet is STILL like shouting it from the street corner... so be careful.

10 posted on 04/01/2019 5:55:57 AM PDT by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing Obamacare is worse than Obamacare itself.)

To: Texas Fossil; Abby4116; afraidfortherepublic; aft_lizard; AF_Blue; AppyPappy; arnoldc1; ...

Web Browser Security/Privacy Issue ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

11 posted on 04/01/2019 6:06:07 AM PDT by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)

To: ShadowAce; Swordmaker; ThunderSleeps

*PING* to your respective lists.

12 posted on 04/01/2019 6:06:57 AM PDT by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)

To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; JosephW; Only1choice____Freedom; Ernest_at_the_Beach; martin_fierro; ...

15 posted on 04/01/2019 6:15:33 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)

To: Texas Fossil

I would suggest just installing Mint and be done with all the Debian issues. They also have 32 bit versions in even the newest releases. The Firefox issue is another whole critter, thank you for sharing that.

29 posted on 04/01/2019 8:58:17 AM PDT by Openurmind

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