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Mmm, Pi-hole

troyhunt.com

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Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#51

Post by class4behavior »

ryandrake wrote: post #47
windexh8er wrote: post #26

I'm surprised this is the top slot right now. Troy, generally, puts out interesting info on security related news however this feels a bit minimal. Since the project has been around a number of years now, and it's not relegated to only a RPi I would have expected him to delve into things a bit more. Pi-hole will also break things. I think the common one I always heard from users on my network at home were that Google…

It’s essentially dnsmasq which can be run directly on your wireless router if you are using custom firmware. No separate hw needed, no need to horse around with dockers or containers or any of that stuff. I’d guess a lot of people are already running dnsmasq for other purposes, so adding the blocklist and periodically updating it should be trivial.

Yeah, on openwrt you just install the adblock package

https://github.com/openwrt/packages/tree/master/net/adblock/...

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#52

Post by move-on-by »

WorkLifeBalance wrote: post #16

Someone on here recently recommended uMatrix for this purpose and I find that a nice trade-off between usability and request blocking. It's an extension but given it's less opaque than a generic ad-blocker I feel more in control and that it's less likely to go 'rogue' like adblockers do.

I also love uMatrix. Unfortunately its not an option on mobile. You could theoretically install it in Firefox mobile for Android, but it would be so difficult to use. I also use a Pi-Hole. I see my Pi-Hole as the solution for mobile browsing and apps, where uMatrix is the better option for desktop browsing since it can differentiate between image requests vs. scripts, iFrames, cookies, etc

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#53

Post by chupasaurus »

philg_jr wrote: post #13

Pi-hole is cool, but only works on your home network unless you use a VPN to connect back home and funnel all traffic over the connection. I'll continue putting my trust in uBlock Origin on FF for now, until I hear about any malicious PRs that get merged in /shrug/

You can wind up a Linux VDS with dnsmasq and blacklist of domains, then use it on any device everywhere.

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#54

Post by isserson »

daemin wrote: post #20
tomrod wrote: post #2

This is excessive. Amazingly so. I don't mind an ad or two. I don't want you siphoning my network and computational resources without compensation.

I think the news sites are thinking the same thing. "I don't want you to use my network and computational resources (to read the news) without compensation (watching our ads/mining our coin/etc)"

In that case, these news businesses should not be publishing content on the World Wide Web. Users pay for devices, electricity, and monthly network connection, These publishers seem to be stuck in the last epoch. A website is not a finished product like a book or newspaper, it is publicly-accessible data. Users can scrape, restyle, delete, and add content _at will_ whenever they choose to download this content.

So the ideology of capital, which destroyed community morals, is now having it's own tawdry ethics trashed. It's not news that the news is failing. This Author Wrote 7 Reasons Why You Can't Make 20th Century Business Web-Scale.

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#55

Post by gruez »

ryandrake wrote: post #50
galadran wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You, and the other commentator, are forgetting that the DNS Server handles all connections, not just those from your browser. Are you confident all the self updating software you use has no vulnerabilities? How about the video games that you play? Even assuming the use of HTTPS, there are other threats. For example, PiHole redirecting you to a MiTM, who simply observes your connection and can learn sensitive informat…

This should just be dnsmasq, for which source code is readily available and inspectable. You can (and should) compile it yourself if you don’t trust someone else’s binary. You can also inspect the block lists to ensure they all go to 0.0.0.0 if you’re worried about mitm attacks.

you could do the same with ublock

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#56

Post by andreasvc »

windexh8er wrote: post #26

I'm surprised this is the top slot right now. Troy, generally, puts out interesting info on security related news however this feels a bit minimal. Since the project has been around a number of years now, and it's not relegated to only a RPi I would have expected him to delve into things a bit more. Pi-hole will also break things. I think the common one I always heard from users on my network at home were that Google…

The simplest approach is to use a hosts file: https://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#57

Post by gruez »

move-on-by wrote: post #44
galadran wrote: post #7

> Do you use a popular browser extension? How confident are you that the creator wouldn’t accept a $10k offer to hand it over only to have it then go rogue on you? What makes the Pi-Hole organization any more trustworthy? (and the software stack it all depends on) Personally, I'm inclined to trust them both and hope that the long arm of the GDPR will be effective. Optimistic, I know.

I think a major difference is the update scheme. Browser extensions auto-update. If they switch hands there is no user visibility when getting the updated version. Pi-Hole is installed software and requires manual updates, which gives users more visibility and control.

you can turn auto-updates off. also, you can easily inspect the source for an extension (AMO doesn't allow minified js), you can't easily do that for the multitude of components that make up pi hole.

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#58

Post by briffle »

andreasvc wrote: post #56
windexh8er wrote: post #26

I'm surprised this is the top slot right now. Troy, generally, puts out interesting info on security related news however this feels a bit minimal. Since the project has been around a number of years now, and it's not relegated to only a RPi I would have expected him to delve into things a bit more. Pi-hole will also break things. I think the common one I always heard from users on my network at home were that Google…

The simplest approach is to use a hosts file: https://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

That doesn't work the same as pihole. PiHole blocks ads on ALL devices on your network. Your computer, your laptop, your phone, your kids kindle, etc. As long as they are on your network, they are protected (and browsing web pages on an older phone, things are much faster)

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#59

Post by ObsoleteNerd »

CraneWorm wrote: post #35

> Somewhere in the middle is a responsible approach, for example the sponsorship banner you see at the top of this blog Uh, sorry, but uBlock Origin blocks it. Also, does anyone else finds themselves jumping straight into `reader view`?

I had a little giggle at him mentioning his ad in an article about pi-holes, since I run a pi-hole and don't see the ad.

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#60

Post by mistermann »

ryandrake wrote: post #47
windexh8er wrote: post #26

I'm surprised this is the top slot right now. Troy, generally, puts out interesting info on security related news however this feels a bit minimal. Since the project has been around a number of years now, and it's not relegated to only a RPi I would have expected him to delve into things a bit more. Pi-hole will also break things. I think the common one I always heard from users on my network at home were that Google…

It’s essentially dnsmasq which can be run directly on your wireless router if you are using custom firmware. No separate hw needed, no need to horse around with dockers or containers or any of that stuff. I’d guess a lot of people are already running dnsmasq for other purposes, so adding the blocklist and periodically updating it should be trivial.

Can anyone recommend a "2018 good choice" for a consumer router that can run custom firmware (including dnsmasq), or a trustworthy recommendation website? Wirecutter for example doesn't note third party firmware: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-router/
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