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Old 26th May 2012
daemonfowl daemonfowl is offline
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Default changing the default useragent .. hiding OS identity..

Hi everybody !

Firefox is a cool browser but it's cooler when it comes to those numerous & handy extensions it offers , one of which is The Useragent Switcher.
I once asked how to possibly hide OS ID ,so to speak .. now I can use the firefox-based useragent switcher .. ( you can always check after changing your default useragent via http://whatsmyuseragent.com )
I hope there'll be a similar solution for other browsers (lynx/dillo/links/elinks)
I still feel the need to learn how I can prevent web/ftp/gopher/... servers from detecting my OS identity ..
Well I know I'm a dumb fowl but can any BSD Hawk here convince me that hiding one's OS identity wouldn't somehow help reduce the risk of remote exploitability (if there is one anyway .. OpenBSD rocks I know !! but there are other reasons why one would want that )
(+ yes I'm aware -thanks to ocicat- that security=! anonymy as pointed Schneier ........... )
After all, Don't I have the right to fake a Box in front of the world ?
Any help/hint/comment/reproach is appreciated.
:-) :-)
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Old 26th May 2012
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by daemonfowl View Post
I still feel the need to learn how I can prevent web/ftp/gopher/... servers from detecting my OS identity ..
Why? What does this gain?

It appears you are persisting earlier paranoia about bad people getting onto your system, & doing even badder things once they have a local foothold. As was established when we had this exact same discussion before, OS fingerprinting is a murky subject which leads to a perpetual game of inventing/thwarting heuristics of which there is no measure of success -- only continued & escalating paranoia. Personally, I don't find this productive. At all.

In my opinion, your time will be much better spent studying the following:
  • chroot(8). Along with the manpage, study Section 10.14 of the FAQ.
  • Begin studying TCP/IP & how firewalls can be used to filter/shape network traffic. Studying the PF User's Guide & Hansteen's manuscript are much better uses of your time.
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Old 26th May 2012
daemonfowl daemonfowl is offline
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ocicat, thanks for your invitation which I accept willingly.
It's not paranoia , it's a + I'd love to achieve ..
A question still unanswered :
* Is it possible to change one's default useragent for browsers other than firefox ?
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Old 26th May 2012
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by daemonfowl View Post
IIs it possible to change one's default useragent for browsers other than firefox ?
And have you studied the documentation to find the answer yourself?
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Old 26th May 2012
daemonfowl daemonfowl is offline
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It's workable with elinks :
Code:
set protocol.http.user_agent = ........................................
There are other benefits of changing default user agents :
browser speed + ability to access some 'fussy' websites ..
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Old 26th May 2012
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IdOp IdOp is offline
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For lynx(1) you can go to the Options screen (usually on the 'O' key) and change it, but just for that session, it can't be saved.
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Old 26th May 2012
daemonfowl daemonfowl is offline
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ya , the User-Agent header .. Thank you Idop !!

(http://www.user-agents.org)
(http://www.useragentstring.com/pages...gentstring.php)
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