NoScript doesn't block WebBugs anymore !

CloneRanger · Aug 14, 2013

And hasn't since V.2.2.4rc1

I just checked due to another member asking about Google tracking. I was convinced NS did block them, until now ! Thankfully Ghostery does though

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Under Advanced, go to Untrusted and forbid <a ping...>, Web bugs,

https://code.google.com/p/jansal/wiki/NoScript
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Sure, the "Block Web Bugs" checkbox probably doesn't damage much on the web now, butclicking the checkbox commits us to the fallout of whatever arms race ensues for it that the NoScript guy has to fight.

*

Feature has been now removed from NoScript with version 2.2.4rc1:

From the change log:

* Removed "Forbid Web Bugs", which cannot be reliably enforced anymore because of speculative parsing

https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/3975
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Google Analytics web bugs are blocked automatically, unless google-analytics.com has been explicitly whitelisted (better than No Google Analytics, because NoScript blocks every cross-site request to GA, no matter the type or the file name).

http://noscript.net
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Techwiz · Aug 15, 2013

IronGeek recommends:

Detection and Prevention

You can find web bugs by viewing the HTML source code of a web page and looking for strange image tags like the ones in the examples above, or by finding images that don't show on the page because they are one pixel is size and/or transparent. Unfortunately even looking for these signs is no guarantee that you will spot a web bug since it could be any image on the page.

Preventing web bugs in e-mail is pretty simple, just look in your e-mail readers documentation for how to disable HTML e-mail or block external images. Some web e-mail services like Gmail disable external images by default, which is a good thing. Some newer mail clients, like Outlook 20003, also default to not loading image from outside sites.

Completely blocking web bugs in regular web pages is close to impossible, barring disabling images altogether. If you're really paranoid you can keep the web bugger from finding your IP address by using a proxy server, but make sure Javascript it turned off in your browser or they may still be able to obtain the information. Tools like Bugnosis ( http://www.bugnosis.org ) for IE and the Ad Block ( http://adblock.mozdev.org/ ) for Mozilla/Firefox can be of some help by choosing to block know web buggers. Another option is to round file know domains that host web bugs by editing you HOSTS file. For those that don't know, the HOSTS file is used by your computer to match a domain name to an IP address before using a DNS server to do the name resolution. See the links section at the bottom of this article for more information on how to edit your HOSTS file in Linux, Windows and Mac OS to help block web bugs and ads. Anti-spyware tools like Ad Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy can help find and destroy the cookies left by some web bugs.

For the most part I feel that web bugs outside of e-mail are only a problem for the most paranoid among us. I use web bugs regularly myself to track pages I host on web servers I can't get the logs for and web bugs have some great beneficial uses for a web master trying his best to tailor his site to the reader's web browser by finding out the most common browser types and screen resolutions. I do however recommend turning off images in HTML email since they can be used by spammers to confirm e-mail addresses.

I think that's about all I have to say on the subject of web bugs, so I guess I bugger off now.
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Some older threads say adblock plus had filters for blocking some web-bugs, but I'm not sure if these were integrated when they started merging subscriptions a while back. Also, its unclear how much protecting these filters actually provided. I removed ghostery from my setup due to redundancy, but I might reconsider re-adding it. I seem to remember hearing about this, but I don't think it rang any bells at the time or if it did I just never got around to doing anything.

mirimir · Aug 15, 2013

But hey, at least there are no WebBugs here! Thanks, Wilders

Snoop3 · Aug 15, 2013

damn, i thought the plain ol' hosts file was blocking most or all of them. I notice AdMuncher finds a lot of them but wonder how many its missing.

tlu · Aug 15, 2013

CloneRanger said:

And hasn't since V.2.2.4rc1

I just checked due to another member asking about Google tracking. I was convinced NS did block them, until now !
Click to expand...

Discussed in detail here.

Taliscicero · Aug 15, 2013

I use NoScript and have (45,217) Blocked with DoNotTrackMe, since July (16). Use NS and DoNotTrackMe or Ghostery and your fine. I pick DoNotTrackMe because Ghostery sometimes has issues and DoNotTrackMe for me is more reliable.

JackmanG · Aug 15, 2013

Taliscicero said:

I use NoScript and have (45,217) Blocked with DoNotTrackMe, since July (16). Use NS and DoNotTrackMe or Ghostery and your fine. I pick DoNotTrackMe because Ghostery sometimes has issues and DoNotTrackMe for me is more reliable.
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How about Disconnect? Lifehacker ultimately picked it over the others, but I still haven't firmly decided between that and DNTM...has anyone chosen between the two, and have good reason to back it up?

Snoop3 · Aug 15, 2013

tlu said:

Discussed in detail here.
Click to expand...

per that thread, they say RequestPolicy is useful in blocking web bugs.

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