this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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Privacy Guides

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Little Rat - a browser extension for monitoring other extensions

"Little Rat is an open-source extension designed for network traffic monitoring. Easily view, monitor, and block traffic from other Chrome extensions on a per-extension basis."

I use it myself and I think it's a very useful extension for everyone who uses more than just few extensions for different purposes and don't fully trust them that they send no data as the developer promises, this extension can monitor the network and act as a firewall per-extension basis.

Download (Lite Version | Can't monitor requests, only block): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/little-rat/oiopkpalpilladnibecobcecijffaflf

Source Code and full version (recommended):
https://github.com/dnakov/little-rat/

(I'm not affliate with the developer in any way and just wanted to share this)

#privacy #browser #chromium #browserextensions @privacyguides @privacy

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[–] smeg@feddit.uk 4 points 9 months ago (7 children)

Isn't piling on browser extensions generally considered bad practice as it increases your attack surface (bad for security) and makes you more easy to fingerprint (bad for privacy)? This seems like a useful tool to use and then uninstall, but if you don't fully trust something then you shouldn't really be installing it at all!

[–] voxel@infosec.exchange 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

@smeg It seems like you miss the technical knowledge. Let me explain. Bad for security; this extension is so simply made there is basically nothing you could rly exploit and the only thing this extension is able to manage ur other extensions not more. Bad for privacy; it's not since not every extension can be fingerprinting, only extensions which modify or do things related to the site you access. Websites don't have by default access to the extensions you have installed.

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 1 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Nothing is completely secure, I'd just rather not install an extension at all if I think it's dodgy rather than trust another third party to monitor it.

Websites don't have by default access to the extensions you have installed

This article implies otherwise, apparently there are multiple different ways to detect installed extensions.

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Websites don't have by default access to the extensions you have installed

This article implies otherwise, apparently there are multiple different ways to detect installed extensions.

The article says:

The Extensions Fingerprints site only works with Chromium browsers installing extensions from the Chrome Web Store. While this method will work with Microsoft Edge, it would need to be modified to use extension IDs from Microsoft's extension store.

This method does not work with Mozilla Firefox add-ons as Firefox extension IDs are unique for every browser instance.

Firefox is not affected, and chrome is just being chrome. You should not expect privacy from a chrome browser.

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 2 points 9 months ago

Nothing is completely secure, I'd just rather not install an extension at all if I think it's dodgy rather than trust another third party to monitor it.

Recently there was a post about Dark Reader doing interesting things.
It's always good to be able to check whether your addons behave well.

[–] voxel@infosec.exchange 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

@smeg You basically missread the article and it basically says, what I already mentioned and the extension is completly opensource I even checked the code myself. 🤦‍♂️

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 1 points 9 months ago

Lol, thanks but "trust me bro" doesn't count as a security audit

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