- Usb Pentest Tools
- Hack Apps
- Hacker Tools Free Download
- Hacking Tools 2019
- Pentest Tools Online
- Hacking Tools For Windows 7
- Hacking Tools For Windows Free Download
- Hacking Tools For Windows 7
- Hack Website Online Tool
- What Are Hacking Tools
- Usb Pentest Tools
- Physical Pentest Tools
- Hacker
- Easy Hack Tools
- Hacker Tools Windows
- Hacking Apps
- World No 1 Hacker Software
- Hack Tools Mac
terça-feira, 14 de abril de 2020
OnionDuke Samples
CEH: Identifying Services & Scanning Ports | Gathering Network And Host Information | NMAP
CEH scanning methodology is the important step i.e. scanning for open ports over a network. Port is the technique used to scan for open ports. This methodology performed for the observation of the open and close ports running on the targeted machine. Port scanning gathered a valuable information about the host and the weakness of the system more than ping sweep.
Network Mapping (NMAP)
Basically NMAP stands for Network Mapping. A free open source tool used for scanning ports, service detection, operating system detection and IP address detection of the targeted machine. Moreover, it performs a quick and efficient scanning a large number of machines in a single session to gathered information about ports and system connected to the network. It can be used over UNIX, LINUX and Windows.There are some terminologies which we should understand directly whenever we heard like Open ports, Filtered ports and Unfiltered ports.
Open Ports means the target machine accepts incoming request on that port cause these ports are used to accept packets due to the configuration of TCP and UDP.
Filtered ports means the ports are usually opened but due to firewall or network filtering the nmap doesn't detect the open ports.
Unfiltered means the nmap is unable to determine whether the port is open or filtered while the port is accessible.
Types Of NMAP Scan
Scan Type | Description |
---|---|
Null Scan | This scan is performed by both an ethical hackers and black hat hackers. This scan is used to identify the TCP port whether it is open or closed. Moreover, it only works over UNIX based systems. |
TCP connect | The attacker makes a full TCP connection to the target system. There's an opportunity to connect the specifically port which you want to connect with. SYN/ACK signal observed for open ports while RST/ACK signal observed for closed ports. |
ACK scan | Discovering the state of firewall with the help ACK scan whether it is stateful or stateless. This scan is typically used for the detection of filtered ports if ports are filtered. Moreover, it only works over the UNIX based systems. |
Windows scan | This type of scan is similar to the ACK scan but there is ability to detect an open ports as well filtered ports. |
SYN stealth scan | This malicious attack is mostly performed by attacker to detect the communication ports without making full connection to the network. This is also known as half-open scanning. |
All NMAP Commands
Commands | Scan Performed |
---|---|
-sT | TCP connect scan |
-sS | SYN scan |
-sF | FIN scan |
-sX | XMAS tree scan |
-sN | Null scan |
-sP | Ping scan |
-sU | UDP scan |
-sO | Protocol scan |
-sA | ACK scan |
-sW | Window scan |
-sR | RPC scan |
-sL | List/DNS scan |
-sI | Idle scan |
-Po | Don't ping |
-PT | TCP ping |
-PS | SYN ping |
-PI | ICMP ping |
-PB | ICMP and TCP ping |
-PB | ICMP timestamp |
-PM | ICMP netmask |
-oN | Normal output |
-oX | XML output |
-oG | Greppable output |
-oA | All output |
-T Paranoid | Serial scan; 300 sec between scans |
-T Sneaky | Serial scan; 15 sec between scans |
-T Polite | Serial scan; .4 sec between scans |
-T Normal | Parallel scan |
-T Aggressive | Parallel scan, 300 sec timeout, and 1.25 sec/probe |
-T Insane | Parallel scan, 75 sec timeout, and .3 sec/probe |
How to Scan
You can perform nmap scanning over the windows command prompt followed by the syntax below. For example, If you wanna scan the host with the IP address 192.168.2.1 using a TCP connect scan type, enter this command:nmap 192.168.2.1 –sT
nmap -sT 192.168.2.1
Read more- Top Pentest Tools
- How To Make Hacking Tools
- How To Install Pentest Tools In Ubuntu
- Pentest Tools Port Scanner
- Hacking App
- Hacker Tools Free Download
- Hacking Tools Name
- Pentest Tools For Mac
- Hacker Security Tools
- Best Hacking Tools 2019
- Hacking Tools Kit
- Hacker Tools For Mac
- Computer Hacker
- Hacker Tools 2019
- Pentest Tools Review
- Hacking Tools Pc
- Best Pentesting Tools 2018
- Physical Pentest Tools
- Hack App
- Hacking Tools For Mac
- Pentest Tools Subdomain
- Hacking Tools And Software
- Hack Tools 2019
- Growth Hacker Tools
- Wifi Hacker Tools For Windows
- Hack Tool Apk No Root
- How To Make Hacking Tools
WHAT IS ETHICAL HACKING
Ethical hackers must abide by the following rules-
1-Get written permission from the owner of the computer system and/or computer network before hacking.
2-Protect the privacy of the organisation been hacked etc.
Ethical Hacking and Ethical Hacker are terms used to describe hacking performed by a company or individual to help identity potential threats on a computer or network.
Related posts
- Pentest Tools Github
- What Is Hacking Tools
- Hacker Tools Github
- Hack Website Online Tool
- Hacker Tools Mac
- Pentest Tools Github
- Pentest Tools Github
- Hacking Tools Free Download
- How To Hack
- Hacker Tools Apk
- Pentest Tools For Android
- Hacker Tools For Windows
- Pentest Tools
- Hacker Tools Free
- Hack Tools 2019
- Tools For Hacker
- Android Hack Tools Github
- Hacking Tools Github
- Hack App
- Hack Tools Github
- Hack Tool Apk
- Hacker Tools Hardware
- Hack App
- Pentest Tools Tcp Port Scanner
- Hack Tools Online
- Pentest Automation Tools
- Pentest Tools Bluekeep
- Hacker Tools For Mac
Android SSHControl V1.0 Relased!!!
Y soluciona las siguientes problemáticas:
- Manejar una shell desde el pequeño teclado de un móvil es engorroso.
- Leer todos los resultados de un comando en la pantalla del móvil, nos dejamos la vista.
Esta app permite interactuar con servidores remotos simplemente haciendo pulsaciones en la pantalla, mediante un explorador de ficheros, de conexiones, etc..
Las funcionalidades nuevas de esta versión 1.0 son:
- Administración del Firewall Iptables.
- Opción de Custom Commands, tal como había prometido.
Las funcionalidades ya presentes en la v0.8 son:
- escalada a root mediante su y sudo
- gestor de procesos
- explorador de ficheros, editor de ficheros, editor de permisos.
- monitorización y baneo de conexiones
- Visualizadores de logs
- administrador de drivers
- estadisticas de disco
Para la versión 2.0 preveo:
- Escuchar música remota
- Descarga de ficheros (wget)
- Transferencia segura de ficheros entre servidores (scp)
- Gestures, para administrar los sitemas en plan minority report :)
App disponible en el market para 861 tipos de dispositivos y pronto disponible en tablets.
https://market.android.com/details?id=net.ssh.SSHControl
Cualquier sugerencia de mejora: sha0 [4t] badchecksum [d0t] net
Related word
- Pentest Tools For Windows
- Pentest Tools Apk
- Hacker Tools Free Download
- Hak5 Tools
- Top Pentest Tools
- Tools 4 Hack
- Hacking Tools Windows 10
- Best Hacking Tools 2019
- Hack Tools For Games
- Underground Hacker Sites
- Hacker Tools Software
- Hack Website Online Tool
- Hacker Tools List
- Hack Tool Apk No Root
- Hack Tools Mac
- Pentest Tools Port Scanner
- Hacker Tools Windows
- Hackers Toolbox
- Hacking Tools For Windows 7
- Hack Tools For Pc
- Hacking Tools Name
- Hacking Apps
- Hacker Tools For Ios
- Hack Tools For Windows
- Pentest Tools Find Subdomains
Conversations With Cyber Security Professionals
eLearnSecurity recently sat down with Chloé Messdaghi, discussing her journey from business consultant to cyber security professional.
Chloe is the VP of strategy at Point Three Security. She is a security research advocate who strongly believes that information security is a humanitarian issue. Besides her passion to keep people safe and empowered both on and offline, she is driven to fight for hacker rights. She's the founder of WomenHackerz and the president and cofounder of Women of Security and heads the San Francisco Bay area chapter.
Like so many others who are interested in a career in cyber security, Chloé showed an interest in technology at an early age then was curious about how cyber crime fit into her university studies on terrorism.
Unfortunately, like many women, Chloé was initially ignored. "I think the first time I realized that I want to be in the (hacker) community was probably when I was in the sixth grade," she said. "I was in a computer class and I remember going up to my instructor saying, I want to learn what hackers do. Can you show me? And he's like, Oh, that's so cute, but that's for boys."
Fighting Discrimination in the InfoSec Community
After Chloé joined her first cyber security firm, she quickly used her research background to immerse herself in the security world. Yet she still faced discrimination that would attempt to define her career:
"When I first started, I just didn't know that I was dealing with discrimination here and there. So, if I would go to a meeting, I would be treated differently. If I was in a boardroom, I'd be treated differently. For example, if you're in a room and you bring up a thought or an idea, everyone ignores it until the male says the exact same line and they applaud it."
Navigating Discrimination and Abuse
Chloé hears weekly from women in cyber security who have been discriminated against or sexually assaulted by their superiors. They are confused about how to navigate chain of command and human resources after such experiences.
People who are sexually assaulted "go to HR on their own to tell someone and within a couple of weeks they are let go from their job. And what happens is they go through their Slack, they go through their emails, they try to prove that that person wasn't capable of doing their job. And so, then what happens is that when you're getting fired, people sign that NDA."
Facing Discrimination Together
While women face discrimination in male-dominated industries like cyber security every day, Chloé wants everyone to know they have support, and there are groups who are willing to help. That's one reason she started WomenHackerz and Women of Security have chapters around the world and offer spaces where women can share their stories and learn from the experiences of others.
For more information, check out the WomenHackerz and Women of Security websites.
- Ethical Hacker Tools
- Hacker Tools Linux
- Pentest Tools Review
- Hacker Tools For Pc
- Hack Tools Online
- Easy Hack Tools
- Hack Tools
- Pentest Tools Port Scanner
- Hacking Tools 2019
- Pentest Tools Bluekeep
- Pentest Tools Open Source
- Pentest Tools Nmap
- Hacking Tools For Windows 7
- Hacking Tools 2020
- Hack Tools
- Hacker Tools Free
- Hack And Tools
Wireless Scenarios Part 1: EAP-Radius JTR Hashcat, SSID MAC Issues And More
I have been on a number of wireless engagements again lately and much like the wireless blog i wrote over a year ago i am trying various combinations of techniques and tools in conjunction to gain access to networks. I will show a range of tools and techniques mostly as a reminder to myself. The format will be scenario based on what i have been seeing while testing. Some of these tools include JTR/Hashcat with specialized rulesets, mdk3 for SSID/MAC bruteforcing, evil access points for bypassing guest networks, DNS redirection/tunneling as well as radius-wpe attacks etc... This will be a 2 part blog, first blog being more Pre-Auth attacks and the second blog being more client attacks.
Finding Hidden SSID's and Limited user network attacks:
Recently i have been on a lot of tests where administrators think its a wonderful idea to hide their SSID's. Administrators feel that if they hide their SSID's they are magically secure. While Cloaked SSID's may pose a slight problem it's not a security feature. Especially when hiding WEP encrypted networks. One issue that keeps coming up is hidden networks with NO clients thus no probe request/response traffic available to passively capture an SSID. Without clients you can't de-authenticate and force reconnections requests with SSID's. To top that off administrators are also running another trivial security feature known as MAC filtering. While MAC filtering is also easy to bypass, again there are no clients on the network so we must come up with strategies to figure out both the SSID's and the possible client MAC addresses. Lets start by addressing the SSID issue.
SSID's can generally be seen in the Beacon traffic. However, if MAC cloaking or hidden SSID's are enabled on your access point they are stripped from the beacon traffic. Striping the beacons of SSID's is usually not a problem if there are clients looking to join the network. As the SSID's must be sent in probe traffic to successfully inquire about joining the network, and SSID's are than easily obtained. Thus why tools like kismet can passively discover the correct SSID given a bit of time and a few clients probing for the hidden network. But, what happens if there is no client traffic?
So the actual scenario i was presented with recently was a Cloaked SSID on a limited use network running WEP, which had a MAC filtered client device. This device would attach to the network once a day for a limited amount of time. So the first piece of the puzzle would be figuring out the SSID for later use then tackling the rest of the problem.
We start with a nice little tool called MDK3 which can be used to send out mass SSID requests in either dictionary style or bruteforce in order to determine an SSID. Lets start with the simple syntax then get into some more fine tuned strategies for determining SSID's based on the mind of the sysadmin.
There are 2 modes i have been using, one is dictionary mode and the other bruteforce mode, i would always start with dictionary because its faster. If a dictionary gives no resultes then move to bruteforce techniques. Also have your Airodump-ng/Kismet running during the attack and if the SSID is found it should apear in there as well as your MDK3 results window. You can get your target BSSID value from airodump along with useful information sometimes regarding length of a hidden SSID value which can be used in fine tuning bruteforcing. MDK3 will automatically pick the correct length and then begin bruteforcing based on that length value:
Below is an example of SSID Length Output:
CH 6 ][ Elapsed: 8 s ][ 2012-03-01 21:08
BSSID PWR Beacons #Data, #/s CH MB ENC CIPHER AUTH ESSID
00:24:A5:6F:2E:D5 -59 5 0 0 5 54 WEP WEP length: 12
00:1A:A1:05:E8:20 -61 2 0 0 3 48 . WEP WEP length: 1
00:24:A5:6F:37:9F -64 2 0 0 5 54 WEP WEP length: 12
You will notice example output above says that one SSID is of length 12 and another is of length 1, these are the SSID perceived length values based on values in the packet capture. Not always accurate because these values are just Null place holder values and not always set accurately. Essentially one SSID packet above has a one null value while the other packet has 12 null values as placeholders. If a length of 1 is present you may have to start at 1 and go through the whole range of brute forcing. If the length is known then you can start and end at 12 in this case shortening the full bruteforce time considerably.
Attack Modes and Info:
Dictionary Mode:
./mdk3 [Interface] p -c 1 -t [BSSID] -f [dictionary] -s 100
Bruteforce mode:
./mdk3 [Interface] p -c 1 -t [BSSID] -b u -s 100
Above Switch mappings are defined as the following:
b = bruteforce also can add a character set b [charset]
s = packet speed
c = channel
f = ssid dictionary file
I first tried a regular dictionary attack of common words:
ficti0n:# mdk3 mon0 p -c 1 -t 00:01:55:B1:A3:A5 -f english.txt
channel set to: 1
SSID Wordlist Mode activated!
Waiting for beacon frame from target...
Sniffer thread started
Found SSID length 1, usually a placeholder, no information about real SSIDs length available.
Trying SSID:
Packets sent: 1 - Speed: 1 packets/sec
Got response from 03:F0:9F:17:08:32, SSID: "Secure_Access"
Last try was: (null)
Trying SSID: beauty
Packets sent: 167 - Speed: 166 packets/sec
Got response from 03:F0:9F:17:08:33, SSID: "Guest_Access"
Last try was: (null)
Trying SSID: bianca
Trying SSID: winnie
Trying SSID: isabella
Trying SSID: sierra
Trying SSID: 00000000
Trying SSID: dancer1
Packets sent: 32507 - Speed: 376 packets/sec
Got response from 00:3B:10:47:33:32, SSID: "wow"
I began with a dictionary against a network address i got from my initial airodump-ng. On my first MDK3 run i found one new access point named "wow" but i didnt find the target AP's SSID. If you look at the above MDK3 output there are 2 other networks with similar formats which may reflect our target networks format. Below you will see a similar format.
- Guest_Access
- Secure_Access
If the target company has a repeating SSID format we can create our own dictionary file. According to the above output the format is [Word]_Access, we can take advantage of this by creating a new list with python using the company format. Break open your python editor and create a quick script to parse the english dictionary in the proper format for our attack by uppercasing every dictionary word and appending the word "Access".
#--------------------------------------------------------------
#!/usr/bin/python
dictionary = open("rockyou-75.txt", "r")
SSID_List = open("SSID_List.txt", "a")
for word in dictionary:
word = str.capitalize(word) + "Access"
SSID_List.write(word)
SSID_List.close()
dictionary.close()
#----------------------------------------------------------------
I then ran MDK3 again with my modified list. When this was done I then was able to get a response from MDK3 and determine the SSID of the target network, shown below.
Got response from 00:01:55:B1:A3:A5, SSID: "Secret_Access"
Luckily i didn't have to resort to a true bruteforce attack although the format is shown above for completeness.
MDK3 MAC address Bruteforce:
The next issue is that of determining a valid MAC address on a network without any known clients, this can also be done with MDK3 and bruteforce mode. I would suggest looking at other client MAC addresses on the guest or corporate networks as a starting point. Then use those vendor startpoints as your bruteforce values. So if for example you know a bit about the company based on other network MAC values you can use this knowledge in your brute forcing with the -f switch. Below is a basic command ouput for bruteforcing MAC address filters.
ficti0n:# mdk3 mon0 f -t
Mdk3 -fullhelp output:
--------------------------------------------------------------
MAC filter bruteforce mode
This test uses a list of known client MAC Adresses and tries to
authenticate them to the given AP while dynamically changing
its response timeout for best performance. It currently works only
on APs who deny an open authentication request properly
-t
Target BSSID
-m
Set the MAC adress range to use (3 bytes, i.e. 00:12:34)
Without -m, the internal database will be used
-f
Set the MAC adress to begin bruteforcing with
(Note: You can't use -f and -m at the same time)
I wasn't aware of the above technique at the time of testing but i did give it a try on a local Access Point and found a useable mac address under contrived scenarios. So this was worth noting as I found almost zero mention of it when searching around. Also note that some access points do not properly handle the authentication scenarios in which case the above technique will not work correctly. Usually the user sends an auth request and then the AP sends an auth response denoting success or failure along with an error code, but MAC filering is not part of the normal standard so results will vary regarding error codes. This is AP functionality independent. When it does work it gives you a little smily face and says it found a useable MAC address [SHOWN ABOVE] . Unfortunately in my penetration test I was stuck waiting for a client to come online to get a useable MAC address. Below are a few ideas for the rest of the scenario.
Depending on the location and use of the limited connectivity device there are a few options available for retrieving the WEP key. Networks with hidden SSID's have clients who are always probing for hidden networks whether onsite or remote. You could attack a client directly via a Cafe Latte attack. A Caffe Latte attack woud attack a client with a fake access point and gratuitas ARP requests to discover the WEP key of "Secret_Access" by flooding the client with ARP requests it responds to, generating enough traffic to derive the WEP key. This technique is useful now that you know the SSID, especially if the device is being used at the local coffee shop. I will take a look at this attack in the next blog when focusing on client based attacks.
Caffe Latte was not a good option for me because the device appears online for a short period of time and might not be available either offsite at a coffee shop or even locally long enough to generate enough traffic to crack the network. In this test I however didn't have enough time to see client actually get online but had I see the client get online I would have noted his MAC address and then configured a chop chop or fragmentation attack against the network whether the client was available or not all i would really need is one data packet. I will not illustrate this whole technique as it is fully covered in the following link Cracking WEP with no Clients.
Cracking Radius /PEAP/TTLS Hashes: (Post EAP Attack)
This is about attacking hashes from WPE Radius attacks, but just as a reference before we start here is a quick radius attack setup guide without going into to much detail.
Steps to Setup WPE attack
- Install the following freeradius server and WPE patch. http://blog.opensecurityresearch.com/2011/09/freeradius-wpe-updated.html
- Start your WPE server by typing 'radiusd'
- Tail your log file so you can see incoming credentials 'tail -f /usr/local/var/log/radius/freeradius-server-wpe.log
- Setup an access point with similar settings as to what you are seeing in airodump or wireshark essentially this will be a WPA Enterprise with AES and a default secret of 'test' which is set in the WPE installed package by default so it can talk between the AP and the radius server. You will also need to run an ifconfig on your radius server box so you know what address to point the AP too.
- Optionally you can use hostAP instead of a physical enterprise AP setup.
Use one of your local computers to connect to the FreeRadius wireless network and type in a fake username/password to grab an example hash. If you dont see your hash output in the logfile then double check all your ip addresses and insure your server is running. In a real attack you would wait for clients to attach to your Access point and the credentials will be forwarded to your FreeRadius-WPE server. Once this is done the fun begins and also where we will start in our attack scenario.
Formatting hashes:
Your hashes can come in a few formats, they might come back as PAP responses in which case they will be plain text passwords. Plaintext PAP can sometimes be a result of mobile devices sending paswords. Otherwise your attack will result in MSChap password challenge/response hashes. Once you receive your MSChap hashes they have to be formated in a specific way in order to crack them. Here is an example hash and the proper format to use before trying to crack the hashes.
Example Hash:
mschap: Mon Feb 05 19:35:59 2012
username: test
challenge: b3:f8:48:e9:db:02:22:83
response: 15:36:d7:e9:da:43:1f:5f:d2:4b:51:53:87:89:63:b7:12:26:7c:a8:f7:ea:9c:26
Formated for john:(username::::response:challenge)
test::::1536d7e9da431f5fd24b5153878963b712267ca8f7ea9c26:b3f848e9db022283
Tool to automate this: (Tool Link)
One of my friends wrote a python script that will take your freeradius-server-wpe.log as input and format out all of the hashes one per line.. The script output can be fed directly into John The Ripper(JTR).
JTR Cracking and Custom Rulesets:
One way to crack these hashes is to use JTR with a bunch of dictionary attacks and if that fails procede from there with custom korelogic rulesets. Check out preceding link for more info on password cracking techniques which can be employed in addition to this blog. Below I will reiterate a few points on setting up JTR with custom rulesets from the Defcon challenge in 2010 based on the previous link and then how to parse them out and use them.
The first thing to note is that the format of the hashes you get from WPE will generally be considered NETNTLM within JTR so we will have to specify that as well as the wordlists we would like to use to start.
Dictionary attacking first:
First go into your JTR directory and try to crack with some dictionaries of your choosing:
ficti0n:# cd Desktop/Tools\ /john/run
ficti0n:# ./john --wordlist=wordlists/wpa.txt --format=NETNTLM JohnFormat.txt
Loaded 1 password hash (NTLMv1 C/R MD4 DES [netntlm])
test (test)
guesses: 1 time: 0:00:00:00 100.00% (ETA: Tue Mar 20 19:29:31 2012) c/s: 692441 trying: test
Custom Rules: korelogic rulesets (Link)
If the cracking fails on all of your wordlists then try installing custom rulesets with the following sequence of commands meant do download and then append the rules to the current john file. The following command can also be found at the above Korelogic link.
ficti0n:# wget http://contest-2010.korelogic.com/rules.txt
ficti0n:# cat rules.txt >> john.conf
Once this is done you can directly specify any rule in the file similar to the following:
ficti0n:# ./john --wordlist=wordlists/english.txt --format=NETNTLM --rules:KoreLogicRulesAppendNum_AddSpecialEverywhere johnFormat.txt
Or if you are time independent just let them all rip and go on vacation and check the results when you get back LOL
ficti0n:# for ruleset in `grep KoreLogicRules john.conf | cut -d: -f 2 | cut -d\] -f 1`; do ./john --wordlist=wordlists/english.txt --format=NETNTLM --rules:${ruleset} JohnFormat.txt; done
Hashcat rulesets and building pasword files:
Another way to build complex password files is to use tools like HashCat with supplied password rules and pipe it out to STDOut, either into a file or the STDIn of other cracking programs like John the Ripper. There is a rules folder in HashCat which has a number of rules provided by default.
Available Hashcat Rules:
ficti0n:# ls
best64.rule generated.rule passwordspro.rule T0XlC.rule toggles3.rule
combinator.rule leetspeak.rule perfect.rule toggles1.rule toggles4.rule
d3ad0ne.rule oscommerce.rule specific.rule toggles2.rule toggles5.rule
Creating Passwords with Hashcat and a dictionary:
ficti0n:# ./hashcat-cli32.bin -r rules/passwordspro.rule ../wordlists/cain.txt --stdout
You can also pipe passwords directly into JTR from hashcat output but its really slow so I suggest you make a world list then load it up with --wordlist, but the example is shown below.
Piping Hashcat password rules into JTR: (really slow)
ficti0n:# ./hashcat-cli32.bin -r rules/passwordspro.rule ../wordlists/rockyou-75.txt --stdout |/pentest/passwords/john/john --format=NETNTLM JohnFormat.txt --stdin
I hope someone finds my above notes useful, I am going to write up some client side attack stuff as well and post it up here... Let me know if you have any questions or need more clarification on anything covered in the blogs.
More articles
What Is Brave Browser And How Does It Compares To Chrome ?
There are more competing web browsers than ever, with many serving different niches. One example is Brave, which has an unapologetic focus on user privacy and comes with a radical reimagining of how online advertising ought to work.
Brave is based on Chromium, the open-source code that forms the basis for Google Chrome. But is it any good? And for those using Google Chrome, is it worth switching to Brave?
A Brief History of Brave
When Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy founded Brave in 2015, they wanted to address what they perceived as the biggest problem with the modern internet: intrusive advertising.
Advertising is the fuel that powers the modern internet, allowing websites and digital creatives to monetize their content without charging users for each article read or every video watched. That said, Eich and Bondy think it's got some pretty significant downsides, citing the potentially privacy-harming nature of advertising trackers, as well as the negative impact it has on the overall user experience.
Brave's first release came about amidst two significant trends, which ultimately defined the new browser.
First, the cryptocurrency revolution was in full swing. Companies and individuals alike—like the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto—were creating their own decentralized cryptocurrencies, which quickly reached billion-dollar market capitalizations. Second, ad-blocking technology entered the mainstream. By the decade's halfway point, millions of people were blocking ads online across all browsers, desktop, and mobile.
Brave was one of the first browsers to include built advertisement and tracker blockers, leapfrogging the likes of Opera. It also came with its own cryptocurrency, called BAT (or Basic Attention Token), allowing users to reimburse the sites and creators they like.
Essentially, Brave wants to re-imagine how the Internet works: not just on a usability level, but on an economic level. It's an undeniably radical vision, but you wouldn't expect any less, given its founding team.
Brendan Eich is the inventor of the JavaScript programming language and co-founded the Mozilla Foundation, which created the popular Firefox web browser. He also briefly served as the foundation's CEO before resigning following a bitter controversy over his political donations. Brian Bondy is also ex-Mozilla, and spent time at education startup Khan Academy.
Beyond that, Brave is a reasonably standard browser. Like Edge, Chrome, and Opera, it's built upon the Blink rendering engine, which means webpages should work as you expect. Brave is also compatible with Chrome extensions.
To Track or Not to Track?
The Brave browser is characterized by an unapologetically pathological focus on user privacy. Its primary mechanism for delivering this is something called Brave Shields, which combines traditional tracker-blocking technology, paired with several under-the-hood browser configuration tweaks. This feature is turned on by default, although users can easily de-activate it should it cause websites to break.
As you might expect, Brave blocks trackers based on whether they appear in several public blocklists. Going beyond that, it also uses cloud-based machine learning to identify trackers that slipped through the net, in addition to browser-based heuristics.
Brave Shields also forces sites to use HTTPS, where both an encrypted and unencrypted option is available. By forcing users to use an encrypted version of a website, it makes it harder for those on your network to intercept and interfere with the content you visit. While this sounds abstract, it's more common than you think. Public Wi-Fi hotspots, like those found in airports, routinely inject their own ads into websites being visited. Although upgrading to SSL isn't a silver bullet against all security and privacy, it's a pretty significant security upgrade.
Separately from Shields, Brave also includes a built-in TOR browser. TOR allows users to circumvent local censorship — like that which occurs on a national or ISP level — by routing traffic through other computers on its decentralized network.
The tool, which was funded by the US Department of Defence, is frequently used by dissidents living under authoritarian governments to escape surveillance and censorship. Both Facebook and the BBC offer their own TOR 'onion' sites for this reason. Somewhat of a double-edged sword, it's also used by bad actors — drug dealers, hackers, and other online criminals — to operate free from the scrutiny of law enforcement.
Going Batty for BAT
As mentioned, Brave uses its own cryptocurrency, called BAT, for rewarding websites for the content they appreciate. Microtransaction-based tipping is nothing new. Flattr pioneered it almost a decade ago. What's different about BAT is both the implementation and the scale.
While Flattr used traditional fiat-based currencies (by that, I mean currencies like pounds, dollars, and euros), Flattr has its own fungible (essentially, convertible) cryptocurrency based on the Ethereum blockchain. And, as a browser with mainstream aspirations, Brave can deliver this concept to millions of people.
So, let's talk about how it works. Firstly, it's entirely optional. Users can choose to use brave without even touching the BAT micropayments system. By default, it's turned off.
If you decide to opt-in, users can purchase BAT through a cryptocurrency exchange, like Coinbase. They can also earn it by viewing "privacy-respecting" ads. Rather than traditional banner-based advertising, these present as push notifications. Users can choose to dismiss a notification or view it in full-screen.
Unlike traditional advertising networks, the calculations determining what advertisements to show you are performed on your own device. This means the advertiser isn't able to build a profile of you and your interests.
Of all advertising revenue that Brave receives, it shares 70 percent with users, keeping a 30 percent share. It's also worth noting that Brave's advertising program is only available in a handful of countries, mostly scattered across Europe and the Americas, plus Israel, India, Australia, South Africa, the Philippines, Singapore, and New Zealand.
Once you have some BAT, you can spend it. You can choose to automatically contribute to specific sites or tip creators on an ad-hoc basis. You can even tip individual tweets. When you open Twitter through your browser, Brave will automatically add a button to each post within your newsfeed. Pressing it will open a drop-down window, where you confirm your tip.
The sites accepting BAT include The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Slate, as well as popular tech publications like Android Police and The Register. Brave also plans to allow users to spend their rewards for more tangible rewards: like hotel stays, gift cards, and restaurant vouchers. At the time of publication, this system isn't yet available.
How Does Brave Compare to Google Chrome?
Google Chrome commands the majority of the browser market, with other competitors, including Brave, trailing behind. Independent figures about Brave's adoption aren't readily available. It doesn't show on NetMarketShare or W3Counter, as it uses Chrome's user-agent string. In October, however, the company behind Brave reported eight million monthly active users and 2.8 million daily active users.
While that's pocket change in the broader Internet ecosystem, it's still fairly impressive for a young company that's trying to disrupt a market dominated by a small handful of well-entrenched players, like Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, and Apple.
Brave promises to be faster and less energy-intensive than rival browsers, and it delivers on this. Scientific benchmarks, plus my own anecdotal experiences, pay testament to this. Furthermore, when you open a new tab, Brave shows you how much time you've saved by using it.
However, there are small annoyances you perhaps wouldn't get with other browsers. Functionality that comes standard in Chrome, like the ability to automatically translate webpages, is only available through plug-ins.
You also occasionally encounter webpages that force you to "drop" your shield to access it. And while this isn't Brave's fault, it does highlight the fact that a huge part of the conventional Internet isn't quite prepared to embrace its utopian vision of how content should be monetized.
A Brave New World?
Should you ditch Google Chrome for Brave? Maybe. There's a lot to appreciate about this browser. While it's generally fast, it also feels extremely polished. I appreciate the fact that it comes with both light and dark themes and the ease in which it allows users to protect their privacy from cross-site trackers.
But Brave is more than a browser. It's a statement about how the Internet should work. And while most people will agree that the pace and scale of online tracking should be rolled back, many may disagree whether cryptocurrencies are the best way to monetize content that is otherwise funded by traditional in-browser advertising. And are push notification-based advertisements on your desktop really a less irritating form of advertising?
Ultimately, the question is whether you agree with Brave's approach or not.
@£√£RYTHING NT
Related posts- Pentest Tools Subdomain
- Hack Apps
- Tools Used For Hacking
- Beginner Hacker Tools
- Termux Hacking Tools 2019
- Hacking Tools 2020
- Hacking Tools Github
- Ethical Hacker Tools
- Hack Tools For Games
- Hacking Tools Windows
- Pentest Tools Port Scanner
- Black Hat Hacker Tools
- Hack Tools
- Hacking Tools For Windows 7
- Hacking Tools Windows
- Hacking Tools Online
- Hack Tool Apk No Root
- Hacking Tools For Kali Linux
- How To Hack
- Pentest Tools Open Source
- Pentest Tools Alternative
- Hacking Tools Hardware
- Hack Tools Mac
- Hack Tools Pc