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Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

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Re: Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

#81

Post by jcynix »

I agree that a secure way to transfer files between systems is a must. If two systems are at the same location, a small USB card reader (nowadays easily OTG capable) and an SD card allow me to transfer data.

For systems connected only by a network: maybe I don't see the advantages of these tools (which I have to install first on any client) as all systems I use already provide ssh and rsync to do secure file transfers. Even my Android devices are capable of using ssh/sshd and rsync via the Termux app, so to transfer files between them and a Linux or Mac laptop is easy.

OK, one user has to be proficient in enabling ssh/sshd if needed, but to install software such as the one discussed here, that's no difference.

Re: Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

#82

Post by cl3misch »

zelphirkalt wrote: post #63

Tried it with a friend a few weeks ago and unfortunately it failed. It first began transferring the file, then for seemingly no reason I stopped receiving and then after waiting a bit got EOF and the file was not fully transferred. Seems like it is not that reliable in transferring files, or it has requirements, like open ports or so. But then why would it start and then stop trnasferring?

I have used it many times in different scenarios and networks, including firewall and behind NAT. I never had to do anything manually except copying the passphrase.

Did you transfer a very large file?

Re: Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

#83

Post by stavros »

gregschlom wrote: post #14

Haven't tried this but I recently started using syncthing.net and I highly recommend it. Like rsync, it only sends the chunks of the file that changed, so it can be extremely fast for small changes in large files. It's able to use a variety of methods to connect including good through relay servers if the machines can't directly talk to each other.

SyncThing is fantastic, but a different purpose. It's great for syncing files between persistent computer relationships, magic wormhole (or croc) is better at ad-hoc sending of random files.

Re: Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

#84

Post by cde-v »

jcynix wrote: post #81

I agree that a secure way to transfer files between systems is a must. If two systems are at the same location, a small USB card reader (nowadays easily OTG capable) and an SD card allow me to transfer data. For systems connected only by a network: maybe I don't see the advantages of these tools (which I have to install first on any client) as all systems I use already provide ssh and rsync to do secure file transfer…

[flagged]

Re: Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

#86

Post by account-5 »

gitanovic wrote: post #79
account-5 wrote: post #78

Can someone EIL5 this for me. I don't understand how this works. If I have my computer on my home network and the person I was to share a file with is on their home network, how does this work out where it's sending the file/folder? The examples seem to suggest it magically knows based just on a passphrase. I have to be missing something. I'm aware this is a stupid question but I can't, based on what I've read so far…

The application has a default parameter that points to a relay server, when you want to share something, you tell to the server "hey I want to connect" and the server gives you back a passphrase, now the receiver connects to the same server and has to use the same passphrase to get the files you are sharing Then the server tries to make your and the receiver clients connect directly to each other, if this doesn't wor…

Thanks, I thought there had to be some sort of middle man type thing going on. Not obvious, at least to me, from the info in the repo.

Re: Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

#87

Post by wakamoleguy »

joelthelion wrote: post #76
pepa65 wrote: post #72

About relying on the developer to provide the relay server (this was early 2022): The cost of croc is mostly bandwidth - over 8 terabytes of data is sent every month through croc! That's amazing to me since I started this project just as a way for me to share files with friends. Four years ago, the public relay server only costed $5/month, but now it is costing me $40-50/month. The higher cost is enabling file transf…

Isn't it possible to use the relay to initiate a direct connection between the two clients, instead of transferring the data itself?

Sometimes. The VoIP world has been dealing with this for years. The process of finding and connecting the clients is called signaling, and that typically requires a shared relay. The signaling can contain information on how the clients can be reached directly. In SIP, typically each client will use a STUN server to discover their public IPs, and a process call ICE allows the clients to iteratively try those candidates until they establish a connection. Based on the NAT settings, it may not be possible, so clients will also include the IP of a relay TURN server.

The challenges with Croc here are largely the same, but with data as the media instead of voice or video. (Although, “VoIP” can also handle data in this way. See WebRTC data channels.)

Re: Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

#88

Post by yard2010 »

cde-v wrote: post #84
jcynix wrote: post #81

I agree that a secure way to transfer files between systems is a must. If two systems are at the same location, a small USB card reader (nowadays easily OTG capable) and an SD card allow me to transfer data. For systems connected only by a network: maybe I don't see the advantages of these tools (which I have to install first on any client) as all systems I use already provide ssh and rsync to do secure file transfer…

[flagged]

Why so toxic

Re: Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

#89

Post by weinzierl »

Last time I checked Croc was flagged by a couple of scanners on VirusTotal. There is the possibility that these are false positives and when we have the attention of HN I wanted to use the opportunity to raise awareness. Maybe someone can have a look into it.

EDIT: At the moment it is 100% green on VirusTotal.

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/a2c3b38bdd8d93bfd40925e1...

Re: Croc: Easily and securely send things from one computer to another

#90

Post by Bu9818 »

jcynix wrote: post #81

I agree that a secure way to transfer files between systems is a must. If two systems are at the same location, a small USB card reader (nowadays easily OTG capable) and an SD card allow me to transfer data. For systems connected only by a network: maybe I don't see the advantages of these tools (which I have to install first on any client) as all systems I use already provide ssh and rsync to do secure file transfer…

I too use rsync over SSH for devices I own, but I would avoid using SSH to transfer files with someone else. As the receiving side you either allow them way more access to your system than necessary or do some extra configuration to limit their access.
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