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Using a Hosts File To Make The Internet Not Suck As Much

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Re: Using a Hosts File To Make The Internet Not Suck As Much

#22
post #15

Think twice before using someone else's hosts file, unless you can actually review every entry. Not that I really think anything funny is happening here, but it is a huge security risk to use non-authoritative DNS like this by taking someone else on their word that their hosts file is legit.

What's the concern? It's pretty easy to see all entries point to 127.0.0.1.

Re: Using a Hosts File To Make The Internet Not Suck As Much

#24
post #15

Think twice before using someone else's hosts file, unless you can actually review every entry. Not that I really think anything funny is happening here, but it is a huge security risk to use non-authoritative DNS like this by taking someone else on their word that their hosts file is legit.

If every entry routes to 127.0.0.1, what's the worst that could happen?

Re: Using a Hosts File To Make The Internet Not Suck As Much

#25
post #22
post #15

Think twice before using someone else's hosts file, unless you can actually review every entry. Not that I really think anything funny is happening here, but it is a huge security risk to use non-authoritative DNS like this by taking someone else on their word that their hosts file is legit.

What's the concern? It's pretty easy to see all entries point to 127.0.0.1.

You've just illustrated his point because not all entries do point to loopback.

Re: Using a Hosts File To Make The Internet Not Suck As Much

#26
I have a script setup in my router (TomatoUSB) that downloads a known hosts list and maps all the domains to 0.0.0.0 to block ads and other bad content for all the devices on my network.

Generally, I enjoy not seeing all the ads, but some sites (Slickdeals, I'm looking at you) make such extensive use of affiliate and ads sites that it makes the site barely useable. For slickdeals I ended up making a Chrome extensions that finds URL encoded URLs within a query parameter and redirects to that site directly instead of the affiliate link.

Re: Using a Hosts File To Make The Internet Not Suck As Much

#28
post #19

I'd recommend Gas Mask for anyone editing their hosts file: (Plug for own site with similar stuff): http://pineapple.io/resources/gas-mask Gas mas direct link: https://code.google.com/p/gmask/

For windows use http://www.abelhadigital.com/hostsman (free, but closed source). It also has a list of popular 3rd party supplied host files to block unwanted sites, with options to update them

For linux, you can use vim.
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