Episode 147 - Don't neglect browser security!

If you are using a VPN or Tor, there is no point using an additional encrypted DNS. If you are not using a VPN, then I would strongly recommend encrypting your DNS.

The Hated One

Nah. P, any VPN works. Per their website: “ You can use it with any VPN (and even without a VPN, but that’s not something we recommend), but you should make sure to use a VPN provider you can trust. ”

No Name

Mullvad browser for desktop!

No Name

Most of the issues with Brave that get brought up are ~ 3 years past, and I haven't seen any much more recent ones. As for the Tor Mode, I wouldn't use that for anything sensitive anyways. Simply connecting over Tor doesn't give Brave the fingerprinting protection and anonymity the Tor Browser provides. It's the desktop equivalent to using Brave with Orbot on mobile. If you want to connect over Tor as a somewhat better version of using VPN, it might suffice, but even if it works perfectly it in no way replaces Tor Browser for sensitive activities you *really* don't want anyone to know about. That said, the DNS leak still is/was concerning, if only out of principle. I hope that too falls under the category of Brave being problematic in the past, and doesn't translate to the present. Considering the other options avaiable, I'll continue using Brave as non-TorBrowser-browser – but I'd be happy to learn of course. What better alternatives would you suggest?:)

Great episode. I’m surprised that you’d recommend Brave as a browser given the issues they have had. https://www.zdnet.com/article/privacy-browser-brave-busted-for-autocompleting-urls-to-versions-it-profits-from/ https://www.welivesecurity.com/2021/02/22/brave-browser-tor-mode-exposed-dark-web-activity/ If you fault, apple for collecting data on its users and for becoming an ad company, you should also be concerned about Brave!

No Name

Something I wondered after reading Michael Bazzells VPN & Firewall guide was whether NextDNS on top of a VPN (or Tor) was actually the best way to go. If you're using a VPN with DNS buit in like Proton VPN (which he recommends) already, NextDNS is an additional party after all, and I've seen some trustworthy sources recommend against that. What are your thoughts on this? And how should a third party DNS provider be used when regularly browsing through Tor? Can a system level DNS provider deanonymize (for lack of a better word) your Tor traffic?