Top all-time · #729
Madaidan
Personal blog · madaidans-insecurities.github.iosecuritysystems
Madaidan's personal blog at madaidans-insecurities.github.io covers security and systems. Since 2020, 89 different Hacker News readers have linked it 124 times, most often “Firefox and Chromium”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Sometimes recommended · 6 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link these posts on browser, Linux, Android and OpenBSD security, most often the Firefox vs Chromium comparison. The Linux hardening guide is also recommended.
- Recommended for · 6 comments
- called eye-opening, super thorough, a quick read with good info, and more detailed and convincing than the other side
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Firefox and Chromium31 people · 41 mentions · first linked 2020-08-12
- Linux (In)Security18 people · 20 mentions · first linked 2020-05-12
- Linux Hardening Guide12 people · 12 mentions · first linked 2020-12-25
- On Android Security10 people · 10 mentions · first linked 2020-11-24
- Linux Phones [are less secure than mainstream Android]7 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2020-04-16
- /android.html4 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2021-10-30
- /openbsd.html4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2020-12-31
- Security and Privacy Evaluations3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-01-15
- /firefox-chromium.html2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-01-14
What Hacker News says?
Root access doesn't magically make an OS "open". You can disable System Integrity Protection on macOS and get full root access. That doesn't make it an open OS in any way. Root access fundamentally breaks the security model of Android. It's totally unsuitable for production environments. See https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/android.html#rootin...
Comment linking /android.html
on “Keep Android Open”Submitted Linux Hardening Guide as a story · 460 points
HN discussionhttps://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/linux.html
Comment linking /linux.html
on “Keep Android Open”Submitted Linux (In)Security as a story · 53 points
HN discussion1. Chrome's security team has a very good reputation. 2. I don't know how accurate it is in 2024, but there are comparisons like https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/firefox-chromium.ht... out there.
Comment linking /firefox-chromium.html
on “Gaining access to anyones Arc browser without them even visiting a website”Submitted Linux Phones [are less secure than mainstream Android] as a story · 44 points
HN discussionI found this description about the security risks of rooting very eye-opening https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/android.html It also explains the sandbox.
Comment linking /android.html
on “Everyone knows all the apps on your phone”Submitted Firefox and Chromium as a story · 22 points
HN discussionIs Firefox actually safer than Chromium-based browsers though? I know this is old: https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/firefox-chromium.ht... but has the situation changed substantially in favor of Firefox?
Comment linking /firefox-chromium.html
on “Actively exploited sandbox RCE in all Chromium versions”Submitted Firefox and Chromium as a story · 15 points
HN discussionThis is greatly related to the lack of per-tab sandboxing in Firefox ( https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/firefox-chromium.ht... ) it's not only a security issue but a performance issue as well.
Comment linking /firefox-chromium.html
on “Improving Firefox Responsiveness on macOS”Submitted Firefox and Chromium as a story · 9 points
HN discussionI'm genuinely curious, have you looked into the lack of good sandboxing with Firefox browsers ( https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/firefox-chromium.ht... ) ?
Comment linking /firefox-chromium.html
on “Improving Firefox Responsiveness on macOS”Submitted Linux Hardening Guide as a story · 9 points
HN discussion> Except the default browser is Chromium with some changes Chromium has vastly superior security compared to Firefox. https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/firefox-chromium.ht... > It tries to copy Google paternalism > > It swaps a Google mothership for a Graphene mothership Nonsense claims. All network connections made by the OS are well documented on the official website: https://grapheneos.org/faq#default-conn…
Comment linking /firefox-chromium.html
on “Graphene OS: a security-enhanced Android build”Submitted The Security Gaps in Firefox as a story · 5 points
HN discussionNo, microG is a partial reimplementation of some of the functionality in the Google Mobile Services (GMS) app. Unfortunately, this approach has significant drawbacks. In order to install microG, your version of Android OS needs support for spoofing the cryptographic signatures of apps. Some OSes like LineageOS and CalyxOS allow this. See [1] for some pointers about why this is considered harmful. There was also a re…
Comment linking /android.html
on “Google Maps now requires WiFi scanning to use navigation”Submitted Linux Hardening Guide as a story · 4 points
HN discussionI had to modify userChrome.css twice to make it work over time, because obviously, you don't want the old tab bar there at the same time as TST. But also it was very unstable for me because every time I needed the left bar for something other than tabs it would crash or hang or get stuck. The rest of the browser would keep working fine, but the tab bar would not receive clicks or something like that. I had to restar…
Comment linking /firefox-chromium.html
on “Chrome users beware: Manifest v3 is deceitful and threatening”Submitted Linux Phones (2022) as a story · 4 points
HN discussionIt's at best a mixed bag which makes it harder to fine-tune apps on your system and with limited security benefits (which again become harder to improve yourself). https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/linux.html#flatpak
Comment linking /linux.html
on “KDE launches its own distribution”Submitted Linux (In)Security as a story · 3 points
HN discussionDownvoters, consider reading first: https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/linux.html
Comment linking /linux.html
on “SolarWinds hackers were able to access Microsoft source code”Submitted On Android Security as a story · 3 points
HN discussionNo, it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, by security researchers. This has been on the front page all day: https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/guides/linux-harden... It is safe to assume it is more PRIVATE than a Microsoft OS, but not more secure. Please don't react emotionally to this... It was a bit jarring of a shift in thought to me as well, at first.
Comment linking /guides/linux-hardening.html
on “SolarWinds hackers were able to access Microsoft source code”Submitted Linux phones such as the Librem 5 are a major degradation from Android/iOS as a story · 3 points
HN discussionAside from Tor Browser, Firefox with arkenfox/user.js is ideal for privacy [1]. Chromium-based browsers like Brave are ideal for security [2]. An ideal solution for privacy and security would be running Firefox+user.js in Qubes OS [3], or for even more anonymity, Tor Browser in Qubes-Whonix [4]. However, even this isn't bulletproof, and a 3 letter agency can still determine who you are with techniques like keystroke…
Comment linking /firefox-chromium.html
on “Be anonymous”Submitted Linux Hardening Guide as a story · 2 points
HN discussion> `brew install theThingIActuallyWant` Homebrew is a third-party tool neither written nor endorsed by Apple that does hacky things and causes breakage with things as simple and fundamental as a [multi user install]. > Settings for notifications and obnoxious start-up stuff, all in one place and in your hands, not Microsoft's and in most cases, not even Apple's. It is better than Windows. Right-click on Start - Task…
Comment linking /linux.html
on “Microsoft removes documentation for switching to a local account in Windows 11”Submitted Linux Hardening Guide, 2022 as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
