Many of my friends use my cellphone and browse the Internet which uses mobile data (not a hotspot or WiFi). After that they delete their browser history. How do I know what they have browsed on my cellphone
If they're deleting your browser history, then there is not a way to know what they've browsed. (That's basically the point of deleting history)
Maybe there are a sort of thirth party parental controls that allows you to view the history on a different way, but I do not know if such an app exists.
I think there are other workarounds though, like tell them that they should not use mobile data when they use your phone, or don't allow them on your phone at all if you're not feeling good about it.
Related
I was wondering if it's possible to capture a screenshot and/or record my computer screen(s) via a website?
If it is possible, what languages would I need to learn/code? I already have intermediate knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and PHP.
In other words: I want to have the ability to capture/record my screen (not the website) via using a website (not an application).
Thanks!
This is not possible. Web sites are very deliberately given only restricted access to your computer for security reasons. Imagine the havoc that could result if a malicious web site were able to see and capture what was on your screen--banking information, your confidential e-mails, etc. Even if the user had to give permission for this level of access, it would still be way too easy to trick a user into giving that permission.
The closest I could find/think of was http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/screen_recorder, but even then you have to download a launch plugin. I agree with #DLH. This is for your protection.
My favorite screen recorder is ScreenPresso - it is always running in background, and repurposed the PrtScn button as its launch key.
I have read several articles on feature detection and that it is more reliable than browser detection because browsers lie.
I couldn't find any information on why they lie. Does anyone know the reason why they would do that?
As far as I understand it, Webmasters do browser sniffing to find the capabilities of a browser and limit what they send to the browser. If a browser lies about it's capabilities they will receive more from the webmaster, you can read more:
http://farukat.es/journal/2011/02/499-lest-we-forget-or-how-i-learned-whats-so-bad-about-browser-sniffing
http://webaim.org/blog/user-agent-string-history/
The reason is simple:
Because web sites look at the user agent string and make assumptions about the browser, which are then invalid when the browser is updated to a new version.
This has been going on almost since the begining of the web. Browser vendors don't want their new versions to break the web, so they tweak the UA string to fool the code on existing sites.
Ultimately, if everyone used the UA string responsibly and updated their sites whenever new browser versions come out, then browsers wouldn't need to lie. But you have to admit, that's asking quite a lot.
Feature detection works better because when a new browser version comes out with that feature, the detection will pick it up automatically without the either browser needing to do anything special nor the site owner.
Of course, there are times when feature detection doesn't work perfectly -- eg maybe if a feature exists but has bugs in a particular browser. In that case, yes, you may want to do browser detection as a fall-back. But in most cases, feature detection is a much better option.
Another more modern reason is to just avoid demands to install mobile apps (where product owners contol what I can and can't do with content. No thanks!).
Today Reddit started to block viewing subreddits in case they detect a mobile browser in UserAgent so I had to change it just to be able to view content.
I am working on a website related to physically/psychologically abused person.
There is an emergency exit button available all time so the user can click on it before the "aggressive" person enter the room where the computer is located.
When the user click on the emergency button, the user is automatically redirected to Google with a query like "cooking apple pie" (this is an example).
Also, we would like to hide our website from the browser history in case the aggressive person check the history of the abused person. I think this cannot be done technically.
At least, can we generate fake browsing history to justify to the aggressive person the time that the user was on our website?
I tried multiple things to simulate a "browsing" like using an iframe or an ajax query to another website but none populate the browser history.
Is this can be done?
Thank you for your input!
I think you may be focusing too much on the browser and computer that you do not control and not enough on the content and the server that you do control. How about taking a different approach? Why not generate the pages for the user on the fly? The links are only good once. If you click on the home button (your escape key) and the aggressive person looks in the history the attempt to access them a second time could be made to display the weather or lottery results or something innocuous, Focus on what you have control over.
Useful Technical Details
Removing/Preventing Back Button Click History
You can allow the user to browse throughout a webpage without building up a history trail on the back button by having them click exclusively on javascript: links. This would still not remove any of the visited websites from their full browser history, so it's not a full solution.
Here's an example HTML JavaScript link:
CLICK HERE TO ESCAPE!
If this is acceptable, you could build an inoffensive homepage from which the user could access the site that would use JavaScript to send them to the real website. Every link on that new website would have to be a javascript link. Disadvantages of this would be that they would no longer be able to use the back button to navigate and that JavaScript is 100% required for the site to function.
Sanitized History
Make sure you have inoffensive titles and icons for any pages in the site so if the user does not delete their browser history they will not grab the attention of the third party.
Preventing Access to Protected Content
One option you have is to disguise your website as something else by having the user log in before they are allowed to access any of the content. You could save their session/login data in such a way that it is cleared if they hit an escape button it is erased or reset. As part of the login page, you could give users an alternate password to type in that would redirect them to fake content if their abuser becomes suspicious enough to demand they log in.
The session/login information should never save between browser sessions and always have a short expiration period, to further reduce the chances of the abuser gaining access to the website.
Disguising the Site
Considerations
If you choose to disguise the site either on the homepage or behind a "fake" login, be very careful to choose something that makes sense and would not arouse suspicion or interest. You don't want the fake page to be some sort of game or anything that might pique the third party's interest.
You also don't want it to look so boring or mundane that the original user would be hard-pressed to explain their possibly frequent visits. It shouldn't be anything so specific that the third party would think twice about the original user visiting it though. For example, it might be suspicious if someone who does not enjoy the great outdoors were to be visiting a page on mountain biking.
It also can't do something like just redirect them to Google without explaining the fact that they had to log in to access it.
General Advice
Private Browsing
Multiple sources have suggested either educating your target audience in how to use IE's InPrivate Browsing mode, Firefox's Private Browsing mode, or Chrome's Incognito mode.
There unfortunately does not appear to be a way to prevent the browser from keeping the current page in its browsing history through JavaScript. It's possible there might be some sort of plug-in or third-party control which would enable this, but it's probably just easier to get your users to use a private browsing mode.
Clearing History
Clearing a user's web history would not be possible since browsers restrict websites from accessing or altering data on the user's computer directly. Since the user's browser history is part of this data it would be a security issue if any website could clear the history.
You should provide instructions to your users for pruning or clearing their browser history, whether on the website itself before they enter, or through whatever resource you showed them how to access your website.
Generating a Fake History
If you need to generate a fake list of visited websites, you can always create new tabs/windows for the users (or possibly iframes) at timed intervals with JavaScript, but the user would have to disable their popup blocker for this to take effect.
Further Reading
Here is a helpful article on creating a useful Quick Disguised Exit From A Website. This forum thread that I found it on also had some useful information, but it's likely you've already seen it.
At least, can we generate fake browsing history to justify to the aggressive person the time that the user was on our website?
Have you cosidered turning it around?
What if technically all your pages and its content are about something else. So it is the content you want to hide that's loaded in a special way, making it easier for you to avoid having it in the browser history.
So then it becomes about knowing when to load/show the special content.
Above said, it's very important what #Frédéric Hamidi said:
Just keep in mind that if the "aggressive" person has control over that computer or the network, nothing can really prevent him/her from installing loggers on the machine or analyzing network traffic.
IE's InPrivate Browsing mode, Firefox's Private Browsing mode, and Chrome's Incognito mode
I would recommend this to prevent the abuser from finding the secret site in the browsing history.
Also, opening a social networking site and letting the browsing history collect that would be an excellent and believable excuse for the time spent on the computer.
I am using twilo client in one of my apps and it is showing following popup when I click on call button
But I want to show the following pop up which is lot simpler and seems less cumbersome
Is there a way to control which pop up comes on the screen? I have read some documentation of adobe but their configuration files live in users computer which ofcourse can not be changed by a website.
Any help will be really appreciated
Yeah, those dialogs are native Flash Player dialogs. The request domain is drawn from the domain that the swf is loaded in, and it must be for security reasons. The only way around this is to have the request come from a swf which is loaded from a "friendlier" domain.
Sounds like something that Twilio would need to address, not you. Perhaps you can bug them on their forum or such?
I know this might be a no-brainer, but please read on.
I also know it's generally not considered a good idea, maybe the worst, to let a browser run and interact with local apps, even in an intranet context.
We use Citrix for home-office, and people really like it. Now, they would like the same kind of environment at work, a nice page where every important application/document/folder is nicely arranged and classified in an orderly fashion. These folks are not particularly tech savvy; I don't even consider thinking that they could understand the difference between remote delivered applications and local ones.
So, I've been asked if it's possible. Of course, it is, with IE's good ol' ActiveX controls. And I even made a working prototype (that's where it hurts).
But now, I doubt. Isn't it madness to allow such 'dangerous' ActiveX controls, even in the 'local intranet' zone? People will use the same browser to surf the web, can I fully trust IE? Isn't there a risk that Microsoft would just disable those controls in future updates/versions? What if a website, or any kind of malware, just put another site on the trust list? With that extent of control, you could as well uninstall every protection and just run amok 'till you got hanged by the IT dept.
I'm about to confront my superiors with the fact that, even if they saw it is doable, it would be a very bad thing. So I'm desperately in need of good and strong arguments, because "let's don't" won't do it.
Of course, if there is nothing to be scared of, that'll be nice too. But I strongly doubt that.
We use Citrix for home-office, and people really like it. Now, they would like the same kind of environment at work, a nice page where every important application/document/folder is nicely arranged and classified in an orderly fashion
I haven't used Citrix very many times, but what's it got to do with executing local applications? I don't see how "People like Citrix" and "browser executing local applications" relate at all?
If the people are accessing your Citrix server from home, and want the same experience in the office, then buy a cheap PC, and run the exact same Citrix software they run on their home computers. Put this computer in the corner and tell them to go use it. They'll be overjoyed.
Isn't it madness to allow such 'dangerous' ActiveX controls, even in the 'local intranet' zone ? People will use the same browser to surf the web, can I fully trust IE ?
Put it this way. IE has built-in support for AX controls. It uses it's security mechanisms to prevent them from running unless in a trusted site. By default, no sites are trusted at all.
If you use IE at all then you're putting yourself at the mercy of these security mechanisms. Whether or not you tell it to trust the local intranet is beside the point, and isn't going to affect the operation of any other zones.
The good old security holes that require you to reboot your computer every few weeks when MS issues a patch will continue to exist and cause problems, regardless of whether you allow ActiveX in your local intranet.
Isn't there a risk that Microsoft would just disable those controls in future updates / versions ?
Since XP-SP2, Microsoft has been making it increasingly difficult to use ActiveX controls. I don't know how many scary looking warning messages and "This might destroy your computer" dialogs you have to click through these days to get them to run, but it's quite a few. This will only get worse over time.
Microsoft is walking a fine line. On one hand, they regularly send ActiveX killbits with Windows Update to remove/disable applications that have been misbehaving. On the other hand, the latest version of Sharepoint 2007 (can't speak for earlier versions) allows for Office documents to be opened by clicking a link in the browser, and edited in the local application. When the edit is finished, the changes are transmitted back to the server and the webpage (generally) is refreshed. This is only an IE thing, as Firefox will throw up an error message.
I can see the logic behind it, though. Until Microsoft gets all of their apps 'in the cloud', there are cases that need to bridge the gap between the old client-side apps and a more web-centric business environment. While there is likely a non-web workaround, more and more information workers have come to expect that a large portion of their work will be done in a browser. Anything that makes the integration with the desktop easier is not going to be opposed by anyone except the sysadmins.
The standard citrix homepage (or how we use it) is a simple web page with program icons. Click on it, and the application get's delivered to you. People want the same thing, at work, with their applications/folders/documents. And because I'm a web developer, and they asked me, I do it with a web page... Perhaps I should pass the whole thing over to the VB guy..
Ahh... I know of 2 ways to accomplish this:
You can embed internet explorer into an application, and hook into it and intercept certain kinds of URL's and so on
I saw this done a few years ago - a telephony application embedded internet explorer in itself, and loaded some specially formatted webpages.
In the webpage there was this:
Call John Smith
Normally this would be a broken URL, but when the user clicked on this link, the application containing the embedded IE got notified, and proceeded to execute it's own custom code to dial the number from the URL.
You could get your VB guy to write an application which basically just wraps IE, and has handlers for executing applications. You could then code normal webpages with links to just open applications, and the VB app would launch them. This allows you to write your own security stuff (like, only launch applications in a preset list, or so on) into the VB app, and because VB is launching them, not IE, none of the IE security issues will be involved.
The second way is with browser plug-ins.
For example, skype comes with a Firefox plug-in, which looks for phone-numbers in web-pages, and attaches special links to them. When you click on these links it invokes skype - you could conceivably do something similar for launching your citrix apps.
You'd then be tied to firefox though. Writing plugins for IE is much harder than for FF, I wouldn't go down that path unless forced to.