Still using Chrome? Enjoy being watched.

[Tuxman]

Learning through pain, my friends ...

A UX design flaw in the Google's Chrome browser could allow malicious websites to record audio or video without alerting the user or giving any visual indication that the user is being spied on. (...) Bar-Zik reported the security issue to Google on April 10, 2017, but the company doesn't consider this as a valid security vulnerability.

Stop using Chrome. All of you. Now.

[wraith808]

You make it sound so simple.  I wish my life was as simple as yours.

[Tuxman]

It kind of is. 

[wraith808]

It kind of is. 

It kind of isn't.  You're smart enough that your response was disingenuous, so I'm not going to bother continuing the argument with you.

[Tuxman]

You make it sound like installing a different browser than Chrome would be an unbearable task. Maybe I am smart enough to miss the point here. Care to elaborate?

[tomos]

Does this also affect all browsers based on Chromium?

[Tuxman]

Not necessarily, as this is mostly a UI issue which is not related to the browser engine.

[wraith808]

You make it sound like installing a different browser than Chrome would be an unbearable task. Maybe I am smart enough to miss the point here. Care to elaborate?

I'm not saying installing, I'm saying considerations of the browsing engine and what it supports.  If you have an internal applications that doesn't support other engines.  Seriously?  I had to elucidate that to you?

[Tuxman]

Nothing's wrong with the browser engine. Did you even read the link? 

[solaris65]

The Lunascape browser runs all three of the main engines (Trident, Gecko, WebKit), so it supports nearly every site you might visit.

There seems to be some issue with AV programs and false positives, due to it running the three engines, but I've been using it for a few years now and kept a close eye on my system while using it, with the likes of Sandboxie and WinPatrol and I've yet to see anything running on my system that wasn't meant to be when using the browser. 

[wraith808]

Nothing's wrong with the browser engine. Did you even read the link? 

Let me be more explicit.  If you work for a company, and they make proprietary software based on certain BROWSERS being used, not the engine, and limit what you can INSTALL based on that requirement, then the rest should be a foregone conclusion.  You assume that YOUR use case is the ONLY use case.

Sheesh.

[rgdot]

To be honest these discussions should be about home use, I suppose if working at home for a company using their machine too but even then for normal use I am switching to my personal machine. At a company setting, even if I am a system admin the policies and limitations of what I can do are set above me, I can only recommend but as a system admin I am not disabling Chrome 'unilaterally' based on things like this

[rgdot]

My point above being: A security flaw opening a webcam while I am sitting in a cubicle is way different than if I am sitting at home (may be that's just me though)

[wraith808]

My point above being: A security flaw opening a webcam while I am sitting in a cubicle is way different than if I am sitting at home (may be that's just me though)

Nah, I think they're the same.  Nowhere else do we limit our conversations to just home use, so I don't think that's valid.  And it really only comes into mind when someone blindly and unilaterally makes statements.  If one presents information, that's one thing.  And in all honesty, it doesn't affect me at all at home.  I have neither a camera nor an audio input device on my computers at home.

* wraith808 shrugs

[Deozaan]

The article refers to it as a UX issue multiple times, but it sounds like a UI issue. Am I wrong in thinking these terms mean:

UX: User Experience (what it's like as the user to experience using the product/website)
UI: User Interface (the visual interface the user sees and interacts with)

Often times a poor UI can lead to a poor UX. So it's not to say that it's unrelated to a UX issue. But it sounds to me like it's the UI that should be displaying the red dot to let the user know they are being recorded.

Stop using Chrome. All of you. Now.

While I've become more and more wary of using Chrome and Google products as time goes by, and have been taking steps to reduce (and maybe eventually eliminate) my usage of Google products, it seems like in this case you could just not grant the permission to the site to record you in the first place.

Another reason why it's not always possible (or else it is very inconvenient) to switch away from Chrome is because some sites/services require certain Chrome extensions that are (AFAIK) only available on Chrome. Such as MetaMask.

[Tuxman]

some sites/services require certain Chrome extensions that are (AFAIK) only available on Chrome.

Now that Firefox is aimed at the exclusive support of Chrome-compatible extensions, this might be less true than earlier.
But, as described, any Chrome-like browser (including Vivaldi) might be a good replacement as well; in fact, Vivaldi does not have this security issue in the first place.

[Stoic Joker]

My point above being: A security flaw opening a webcam while I am sitting in a cubicle is way different than if I am sitting at home (may be that's just me though)

Nah, I think they're the same.

Agreed. Be it a casual internal discussion in a cubical between coworkers or a C level office discussion, all information has value. And with the popularity of BYOD the two can get crossed up really fast. i.e. Why did the NSA ban Hasbro furbies from their offices? (same reason..)

[Shades]

And with the popularity of BYOD the two can get crossed up really fast. i.e. Why did the NSA ban Hasbro furbies from their offices? (same reason..)

Whenever I see a furby, I think "target practice". As I was in the military, when those things were popular in the Netherlands and our instructor provided a set of those for us at the gun range from our base.

[f0dder]

My point above being: A security flaw opening a webcam while I am sitting in a cubicle is way different than if I am sitting at home (may be that's just me though)

Nah, I think they're the same.

I'm usually wearing pants at work, though...

[rgdot]

My points was mostly that even if a system admin budget-wise, etc choosing to roll out something else other than Chrome needs approval. As a lesser user sitting in a cubicle I will be doing my job and of course being careful but I can't afford to over worry about things that has to be decided and requires company wide policy.
At home, in a 'this is mine' environment it has to be and it is different. I don't have a web cam and the laptop I use of course does have one, easy to cover and sometimes when it is on table webcam is pointing to wall ( using external monitor). Mic on the other hand ....

[wraith808]

I'm usually wearing pants at work, though...

Usually? 

[f0dder]

I'm usually wearing pants at work, though...

Usually? 

There was this one time when a co-worker finger-gun-pointed at me and said "hands up or pants down", which I obviously couldn't let go uncontested.