this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2024
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This sounds ridiculous. So much work and overhead just to usea web browser?
It's not that much work. I created a VM which is running the same distro as the host. I removed all of the apps except for the terminal. Then I cloned it for each VM I need.
The Whatsapp/ email client VM and the Librewolf VM start with my OS so it's like having them in separate windows. The others I only start if needs be.
It's a lot of effort for the benefit you get, which is practically nothing. Especially considering there are even easier ways to get the same result
Such as?
Just use tabs they can't access each other's data. Or use a tab session manager. Or separate Firefox profiles.
I don't trust Chrome, Zoom or Teams, but sometimes have to use them. I will keep them in a separate VM but will look into Firefox profiles.
So it's just paranoia then... Which makes sense as it's way over the top.
Heck, even just creating separate system accounts and doing 'sudo -u social firefox' would be easier than spinning and maintaining VMs...
Yea, not going to lie that is probably the primary motivator here.
It's not just browsing discussed there. Re-read that again with cybersecurity in mind... online banking shouldn't be done whilst you're sharing a browser with tiktok (as an example)
Yep, there's private / incognito modes, but they just drop all the local session data, they're not any more secure.
Why? Be specific because unless something has gone horribly wrong sites can't access data from other sites or tabs unless they're cooperating. In which case they do so with session data.
And you could simply have a separate Firefox profile rather than spinning up an entire virtual machine.
XSS springs to mind.
And spinning up a VM (or container) is not that hard nowadays.
This does absolutely nothing to defend against XSS.
This is the problem with paranoia-based security. You create needless overhead thinking you're "more secure," but you're not. Not in any way that really matters, at least.
So if i spin up a container to run just that browser for just that site i do nothing against XSS? Interesting.
I can't tell if you're being facetious or not...
XSS is an attack within a site. For example - if I were to embed JavaScript in this post, and your lemmy website didn't properly sanitize it, then it would be executed by your browser. This would let me run code on lemmy with your credentials. I could then rewrite posts, delete your account, maybe send your data to another site where I could capture your session or credentials.
It has nothing to do with any other tabs and it would be limited to lemmy and the page that executed the script. I couldn't have that script read data from your bank on another tab, for example.
This is what I do. Even though there is nothing wrong with the Qubes approach, I think it's overkill unless you are hiding from nation-state attackers.
Neat, Mozilla’s VPN supports setting servers on a per-container basis.
Though gotta watch for DNS leaks apparently.
This is what Firefox containers are for. Put the predatory sites in a container so they can't see out of it.
They can't "see out" of their own tab either. Websites can only access data in the browser that they create.
Sure they can, with cookies or tracking pixels for example.
What? No. Just... No. My god - the misunderstanding around cookies is ridiculous. I blame the EU - they put a 'warning label' on them an now eveyone thinks they're just evil.
Firstly - Cookies are only allowed to be read/written by the site you requested from. If they could read all cookies that would be a MASSIVE security problem and the internet would be fundamentally unusable for business.
Secondly - This has nothing to do with tabs. Nothing. ... Nothing.
Thirdly - There are "third party" cookies which happen when a site coordinates with a third party for things like advertising and allows them to track hits when their ads are displayed. This requires both sites to cooperate. But also see "firstly" as it won't allow that third party access to, say, your authentication information.
Lastly - This still has nothing to do with tabs.
Nobody here said it would let them see your authentication details, so I'm not sure why you're so vigorously fighting that straw man. Third-party cookies absolutely let them know which other sites you've visited. That's their main purpose.
Your session ID is stored in a cookie. That is what a website uses to know that you're logged in. With a XSS attack one can steal your session and use the site as though they were you. So yes - it is "authentication details".
Nobody here mentioned it because nobody here seems to know what they're talking about...
And they are not stopped by using a separate VM with a web browser. So....