[LINK] One for privacy and security
David Boxall
david.boxall at hunterlink.net.au
Tue Sep 20 20:49:38 AEST 2011
I ran across mention of Comodo Dragon at
<http://www.techishare.com/tech/comodo-dragon-vs-google-chrome-updated/>
and decided to give it a try. So far, I'm impressed.
Google Chrome's behaviour is a bit of a worry.
From
<http://forums.comodo.com/help-cd/how-is-dragon-better-t67998.0.html;msg481398#msg481398>
Comodo Dragon internet browser is based on the source code of Google
Chrome browser but has a number of improvements, which includes fixes
some privacy and security improvements.
ADDED Certificate Domain Validation checking warning
Comodo Dragon uses advanced domain validation technology originally
developed in Comodo Verification Engine. It performs additional
analysis of a domain's SSL certificate to warn about those that been
issued with Domain Only Validation.
FIXED Client identification number privacy issue.
Comodo Dragon fixes this privacy issues, which exists in Chrome browser.
Chrome creates an ID for each client (user). This security gap
theoretically can be used to identify a user. This ID has been removed.
REMOVED RLZ-Tracking capability.
RLZ-Tracking is a Chrome's feature which informs Google about when and
where the browser has been downloaded. This capability has been removed
in Dragon. This has been done to protect user privacy
Comodo's traditional product update technology is used.
Dragon uses Comodo's own installer and update technology. Chrome, on the
other hand, checks for updates and makes update via Google Updater,
legality of which was put under question by Red Bend Software. Google
Updater was entirely eliminated in Dragon
REMOVED error reporting mechanism.
Error reporting is used by Google to find and remove problems in their
software however the information, which is sent to Google, includes
some data about the computer's software. In case it this information is
intercepted by an attacker, it can be used to reveal vulnerabilities in
the computer's security system. Comodo Dragon has eliminated this
mechanism is order not to compromise user's security and privacy.
REMOVED installation time-tracking.
Comodo's installation technology doesn't use and store information about
when the software was installed and updated, all actions are based only
on your current version number, whereas Chrome installation stores
detailed (up to the second) information about software installation time
ADDED smart software removal
During software remove Dragon asks user whether he or she wants to keep
user preferences data (home page, search engine customizing, etc) and
leaves or removes user profile based on his or her choice. This is done
for user's convenience. Leaving user's profile on your computer is
recommended if you are going to return to using Dragon in future
EXCLUDED remote error pages usage
Dragon uses locally stored error messages (such as "Page not found"),
whereas Chrome in its default configuration uses server-stored error
messages. In Dragon information about your network input errors is
limited to your browser instead of being sent to Google’s remote server.
--
David Boxall | Any given program,
| when running correctly,
http://david.boxall.id.au | is obsolete.
| --Arthur C. Clarke
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