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Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

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Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#231

Post by hbosch »

pgl wrote: post #85

Previously: * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15921134 This is a link to the GitHub issue: * https://github.com/gregglind/addon-wr/issues/36 There are several scary things about this: - Unknown Mozilla developers can distribute addons to users without their permission - Mozilla developers can distribute addons to users without their knowledge - Mozilla developers themselves don't realise the consequences of doin…

> Mozilla developers can distribute addons to users without their knowledge

I think for most people this is the stickiest point. Other commenters have said things along the lines of, "well if you trust their browser you should be able to trust their add-ons" and I do, mostly, trust their add-on here... but I really don't like how it slipped into my Add-Ons without telling me. For every other Add-On I have to click an explicit blue button, so I know what's in and what's out.

In today's landscape, Add-Ons have massive potential as security threats. For instance, would a savvy user who is security-aware (most users on HN, I assume) install an Add-On like Gmail Checker Plus[0]? Without digging in, it's hard to be 100% certain what this Add-On is and isn't doing with my Gmail content (I have no reason to assume anything nefarious, it's just an example). My browser Add-Ons should be off-limits to any sort of tampering without my permission, as well should be my bookmarks and auto-fill info. If I broke into your house and changed your bedsheets, you'd rightly be creeped out... nothing was stolen, new bedsheets don't affect you in any significant way, but it's still wrong and weird and hurts trust.

0. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/checker-plus-...

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#233

Post by narag »

gr3yh47 wrote: post #106
LyndsySimon wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully, it's a bug, and that addon wasn't intended to be installed (much less active) universally like it is. That doesn't make it OK, but it would make me look at them with suspicion instead of hostility.

>Hopefully, it's a bug, and that addon wasn't intended to be installed (much less active) universally like it is. hey look, a voice of reason! seriously. Mozilla is a company that has a long track record of dedication to openness and the free and open internet this isnt Google, facebook, etc let's all take a step back and give them a little benefit of the doubt here, until we get some facts on what happened. for ever…

>>Hopefully, it's a bug, and that addon wasn't intended to be installed (much less active) universally like it is.

>hey look, a voice of reason!

Where's official statement saying it's a bug and it will be disabled ASAP? All I see is Mozilla workers here trying to justity the "bug".

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#234

Post by callahad »

kibibu wrote: post #204
pmlnr wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not concerned that Mozilla might push malware into Firefox installations Nobody is concerned about that, in my opinion. I'm concerned someone will push malware through Mozilla into Firefox installations. Pushing addon installs should not be possible at all.

I'm concerned about Mozilla pushing software written by the Mr Robot marketing department.

I'm not entirely comfortable with how this all went, but it's at least worth noting that the add-on was written entirely by Mozilla engineers.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#235

Post by Danihan »

sjroot wrote: post #137

I just checked my installation of Firefox and this addon was present as well. The developers involved (Greg Lind et al) should acknowledge this and apologize.

Same, why is this in my addons..?

I really don't understand what they were thinking.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#236

Post by kuschku »

zie wrote: post #222
vorpalhex wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is being added to the browser, outside the realm of security updates, through what is supposed to be a UX improvement program, for commercial purposes. It's written by a commercial company that produces advertisement content. It's not clear this code is audited. Sorry, but I'm uninstalling firefox. They have broken the basic trust I have in them as a user to not push arbitrary code to my machine against my inter…

Have fun in Lynx. that's probably the only browser that wouldn't do something like this. Well maybe Safari, not because Apple wouldn't, but because they just don't care enough about ad revenue. Chrome: They leech everything they can get away with, granted it goes only to Google, but you know it's just to feed their never-ending ad-revenue goal. MS: They bypassed IE only ads, and went on to build ads into the entire O…

You can also use good old Konqueror, they also won’t do this.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#237

Post by Karunamon »

palunon wrote: post #205
makecheck wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony is that people pay, just not to the right place. Every unnecessarily-bloated download tears through data plans and costs people money to their ISP that never makes it to the provider. I want plain-text ads that provide just as much revenue to web sites but without obnoxious experiences and fat downloads.

> Every unnecessarily-bloated download tears through data plans and costs people money to their ISP Only in third internet world countries like the US... Elsewhere, we don't have limited data plans.

This is going to put me in weird company but I really don't see why metered billing is such a terrible thing. Most other utilities are pay-for-amount-used. And as a bonus, this creates an incentive for developers (via customer pressure) to not use insane amounts of data.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#238

Post by nicolaslem »

sumanthvepa wrote: post #76

I've been seeing the YouTube logo inverted recently. I wonder if this has something to do with it. If so. I'm done with Firefox. I've used it since it was Netscape in 1996. Enough is enough.

This has nothing to do with Firefox, it was Youtube promoting its Youtube Rewind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube_Rewind

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#239

Post by Mizza »

gvx wrote: post #179
majewsky wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No changes will be made to Firefox unless you have opted in to this Alternate Reality Game. How does it not occur to them that this is a clear lie?

I hardly think it's a lie. My browser contains no trace of anything related to Looking Glass, even though I'm opted into Shield Studies. It seems to affect some people but not others. Definitely something that should be fixed in the core mechanism of how these things are downloaded by your browser if there are cases where it can happen without user intervention, but it doesn't seem to be intentional to download exten…

It's absolutely a lie.

Mozilla has injected malicious-looking advertisement executable software into my process without my permission and then lied about it. I have no idea what this software is, what it does, or whether it is proprietary or free. I opted into nothing.

This is a huge, huge mistake by Mozilla.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#240

Post by [deleted] »

xg15 wrote: post #225
blauditore wrote: post #170

Many people seem to be shocked because Mozilla installed an add-on automatically. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter since the code is coming from Mozilla - they're building the whole browser, so they could introduce functionality anywhere. If someone distrusts their add-ons, why trust their browser at all? The main question is what behavior is being introduced. I haven't researched deeply, but apparently the ad…

> If someone distrusts their add-ons, why trust their browser at all? "Well, I'm your bank. You already gave me authority to reinvest all your savings. Why are you mad now that I invested everything into bitcoin futures?" What exactly does "trust" mean? We might have given mozilla such a widespread access exactly because we trust them not to abuse it. Stuff like this undermine that trust.

[deleted]
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