Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#41

Post by jeroenhd » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 1:21 PM UTC

vinni2 wrote: post #12

Is there even proven benefits of blocking right click security wise? I wonder what is the rationale behind these decisions?

Actually, I've seen many videos of Indian scammers using "inspect element" to generate some fake "accidental money transfers" on their victim's bank account. They'll invent some way to make their victims believe that they've done something wrong and that they've received too much of a "refund" and then they'll either go the "I'm going to lose my job please send back the 30,000" card or the "this is a crime, the fbi will call you if you don't cooperate" card.

Making it difficult to inspect element+replace value might actually be worth the effort. I've seen a Kitboga video where a simple transparent div covering the entire page had the scammed stumped for minutes because they didn't actually understand HTML.

It certainly doesn't prevent viruses, but for scams it may just be enough to save some people.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#42

Post by throwway1 » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 1:25 PM UTC

window.addEventListener("contextmenu",function(e) { e.preventDefault(); //e.stopPropagation(); },false);

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#43

Post by netsharc » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 1:26 PM UTC

jeroenhd wrote: post #41

vinni2 wrote: post #12

Is there even proven benefits of blocking right click security wise? I wonder what is the rationale behind these decisions?

Actually, I've seen many videos of Indian scammers using "inspect element" to generate some fake "accidental money transfers" on their victim's bank account. They'll invent some way to make their victims believe that they've done something wrong and that they've received too much of a "refund" and then they'll either go the "I'm going to lose my job please send back the 30,000" card or the "this is a crime, the fbi w…

To inspect element one can just open the developer tools from the menu or the shortcut key, and then use the "inspect" tool from there, this bypasses the context menu block.

I suppose low level hindrances are sufficient to block low-level intruders...

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#44

Post by lapcat » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 1:27 PM UTC

aaaaaaaaata wrote: post #39

lapcat wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the alternative? Of course recommendations from friends are the best, but professional software reviews in the news media are 100% more reliable than anonymous crowdsourced App Store reviews, which are easily faked or purchased, and even when they aren't fake, they're often totally ignorant. I find it very sad that there are fewer software reviews in the news media now than there used to be. This makes it much…

Discovery isn't the problem with these tools — it's trust. I don't trust MacRumors or PC World to vet...anything. I do sorta trust...I dunno...EFF. Bunnie. yadda yadda.

Which part do you distrust exactly? If a software review has screenshots and describes features of an app, do you think that's all just... invented out of thin air?

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#45

Post by withinboredom » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 1:27 PM UTC

lapcat wrote: post #23

alexvoda wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree. At least on Firefox there is an extension that restores right click and it is open source. If you want to be extra sure you can audit the code and package it yourself. This on the other hand appears to be closed source. Even if it is benign now, there is no telling when it might be sold and new owners may have more nefarious intentions.

> Even if it is benign now, there is no telling when it might be sold and new owners may have more nefarious intentions. I'll never betray the trust of my users, and anyway it's not going to be sold. Nobody has ever made me an offer, and it's unlikely that anyone could afford to acquire it. The extension is worth more to me as an indie dev than it would be worth to anyone else.

Just playing Devil’s Advocate.

This is your thoughts right now. If a real tangible offer came through for 10s of millions of dollars, would you still feel that way? What about when you die or become permanently offline for some other reason? Will your family sell it to the lowest bidder, delist it, or just leave it to bit rot?

These are things everyone has to/should consider when granting software unfettered access to their machine.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#46

Post by lapcat » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 1:38 PM UTC

withinboredom wrote: post #45

lapcat wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even if it is benign now, there is no telling when it might be sold and new owners may have more nefarious intentions. I'll never betray the trust of my users, and anyway it's not going to be sold. Nobody has ever made me an offer, and it's unlikely that anyone could afford to acquire it. The extension is worth more to me as an indie dev than it would be worth to anyone else.

Just playing Devil’s Advocate. This is your thoughts right now. If a real tangible offer came through for 10s of millions of dollars, would you still feel that way? What about when you die or become permanently offline for some other reason? Will your family sell it to the lowest bidder, delist it, or just leave it to bit rot? These are things everyone has to/should consider when granting software unfettered access t…

> Just playing Devil’s Advocate.

You could just ask me questions without associating yourself with Satan. ;-)

> If a real tangible offer came through for 10s of millions of dollars, would you still feel that way?

I would definitely sell for 10s of millions of dollars! Indeed, I would sell for 1 million dollars. But nobody is going to offer me that LOL.

> Will your family sell it to the lowest bidder, delist it, or just leave it to bit rot?

They would have to leave it to "bit rot", because my source code is encrypted, and nobody else has my passwords. (The extension has no server component and should continue working fine indefinitely with no updates.)

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#47

Post by nextstepguy » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 1:42 PM UTC

Absolute Enable Right Click & Copy Chrome extension.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#48

Post by withinboredom » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 1:49 PM UTC

lapcat wrote: post #46

withinboredom wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just playing Devil’s Advocate. This is your thoughts right now. If a real tangible offer came through for 10s of millions of dollars, would you still feel that way? What about when you die or become permanently offline for some other reason? Will your family sell it to the lowest bidder, delist it, or just leave it to bit rot? These are things everyone has to/should consider when granting software unfettered access t…

> Just playing Devil’s Advocate. You could just ask me questions without associating yourself with Satan. ;-) > If a real tangible offer came through for 10s of millions of dollars, would you still feel that way? I would definitely sell for 10s of millions of dollars! Indeed, I would sell for 1 million dollars. But nobody is going to offer me that LOL. > Will your family sell it to the lowest bidder, delist it, or ju…

One of my friends got offered 8 million for an extension a few years ago. The new owners put malware in it. Meanwhile, he’s still sailing around the Mediterranean on his yacht with his family…

This is exactly the kind of thing people are worried about.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#49

Post by lapcat » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 2:18 PM UTC

withinboredom wrote: post #48

lapcat wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just playing Devil’s Advocate. You could just ask me questions without associating yourself with Satan. ;-) > If a real tangible offer came through for 10s of millions of dollars, would you still feel that way? I would definitely sell for 10s of millions of dollars! Indeed, I would sell for 1 million dollars. But nobody is going to offer me that LOL. > Will your family sell it to the lowest bidder, delist it, or ju…

One of my friends got offered 8 million for an extension a few years ago. The new owners put malware in it. Meanwhile, he’s still sailing around the Mediterranean on his yacht with his family… This is exactly the kind of thing people are worried about.

> One of my friends got offered 8 million for an extension a few years ago. The new owners put malware in it.

Which extension?

Was this in the news? There aren't actually that many really big extensions.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#50

Post by jeroenhd » Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 3:39 PM UTC

netsharc wrote: post #43

jeroenhd wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I've seen many videos of Indian scammers using "inspect element" to generate some fake "accidental money transfers" on their victim's bank account. They'll invent some way to make their victims believe that they've done something wrong and that they've received too much of a "refund" and then they'll either go the "I'm going to lose my job please send back the 30,000" card or the "this is a crime, the fbi w…

To inspect element one can just open the developer tools from the menu or the shortcut key, and then use the "inspect" tool from there, this bypasses the context menu block. I suppose low level hindrances are sufficient to block low-level intruders...

This might actually accidentally be an argument for this approach, because the amateur scammers get frustrated at the very least but actual developers are capable of doing whatever they want.

It's a tricky trade-off. I don't think it's worth the effort and inconvenience to block the right click menu, but in the fight against scammers I can see why someone would see otherwise.