Netscape Navigator browser snoops on web searches
Posted by me101 on 08 March 2002 - 04:04 · no comments & 307 views
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According to a network traffic analysis performed by Newsbytes, Netscape is capturing Navigator 6 users' search terms, along with their Internet protocol (IP) address, the date Navigator was installed and a unique identification number.
Anytime a Navigator user performs a search by typing terms into the browser's URL bar and pressing the adjacent Search button, or by using the Search tab on the browser's My Sidebar feature, the user data is sent to a server at info.netscape.com using a uniform resource locator (URL) forwarding system.
While search sites such as Google log data about visitors, Netscape is in a unique position to compile a meta-database of search information, according to Marc Maiffret, "chief hacking officer" for Eeye Digital Security.
"Why should Netscape know about what I searched for at Google? This is way more information than they need," said Maiffret.
Derick Mains, a spokesman for Netscape, said the company developed the URL forwarding system in order to bill participating search sites for sending them traffic.
By default, Navigator's Search function uses Netscape's own search service. But browser users can configure Navigator instead to use search services from Google, Lycos or Overture (formerly Goto).
Using Navigator's Search button to perform an inquiry at Google, for example, invokes the URL http://info.netscape.com/fwd/lksidus_gg/http://www.google.com/search.
A test of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 browser showed that data on searches conducted from IE's search page is sent directly to the designated search site and is not intercepted by Microsoft.
Navigator users can avoid having Netscape log their searches by directly accessing a third-party search engine by typing its address into the browser rather than using the Search button or Sidebar.
The following instructions are for WinXP
1) go to device manager
2) go to audio device/gameport
3) remove SBLive! WDM Basic Device
4) remove Gameport for SBLive!
5) backup wdma10k1.inf to wdma10k1.inf.old
6) backup wdma10k1.pnf to wdma10k1.pnf.old
7) Install official Audigy driver, and select "no" when prompt for "uninstalling driver"
8) restart
9) system report that new audio hardware is found, select do not install driver automatically System report new gameport device found, select do not install driver automatically.
10) run the audigy beta driver UDA_betaUDA_betaAudioEnglishdriversCTZAPXX.exe, select install WDM driver
11) restart, everything okay except the sound font manager
12) copy the sfman32.dll from the "common" directoy of the audigy driver disc, boot to DOS or other version of windows (or safe mode?), then copy the sfman32.dll to System32 directory of windows
13) restart, everything okay, all functionality
the conclusion by that guy is that Audigy is just the old core with new manufacture method (thus different chip size, etc.) with 24-bit playback DAC and 1394 interface. He also hypothesized that Creatvie have their stock dropping a lot earlier last year and a lot of people are criticizing that their R&D is too slow, so they just make Audigy which based on the same old core while advertsing it as "with a lot of whole new technology and functionality"