Cloudflare CEO on whether Airtel is sniffing data packets to block websites

#1

Post by nithinr6 » Fri, Jul 15, 2016, 4:44 AM UTC

Cloudflare CEO on whether Airtel is sniffing data packets to block websites
medianama.com

Re: Cloudflare CEO on whether Airtel is sniffing data packets to block websites

#2

Post by sebastiano89 » Fri, Jul 15, 2016, 7:56 AM UTC

  That particular customer had set up their configuration in
  such a way that the connection from Cloudflare back to the
  customers origin was not passed over an encrypted link.

Is it just me, or this is Google/NSA's "SSL added and removed here! (grinny face)" all over again?

http://i.imgur.com/4p9oMTp.jpg

Re: Cloudflare CEO on whether Airtel is sniffing data packets to block websites

#3

Post by zeroer » Fri, Jul 15, 2016, 9:03 AM UTC

From Airtel's spokesperson:

> This is completely baseless and incorrect. ... Only in the case of instructions/orders from the Government or the Courts, specified URLs are blocked.

Wow, they must have some other definition of "baseless and incorrect" over in LaLa Land.

Re: Cloudflare CEO on whether Airtel is sniffing data packets to block websites

#4

Post by icebraining » Fri, Jul 15, 2016, 10:23 AM UTC

sebastiano89 wrote: post #2

That particular customer had set up their configuration in such a way that the connection from Cloudflare back to the customers origin was not passed over an encrypted link. Is it just me, or this is Google/NSA's "SSL added and removed here! (grinny face)" all over again? http://i.imgur.com/4p9oMTp.jpg

I'm not sure what you mean.

What they describe is simply one of Cloudflare's SSL options, called "Flexible SSL", which is often used because it lets sites offer an HTTPS address without having to purchase a certificate themselves (or even setup a self-signed one): https://www.cloudflare.com/ssl/

Re: Cloudflare CEO on whether Airtel is sniffing data packets to block websites

#5

Post by sebastiano89 » Fri, Jul 15, 2016, 12:25 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #4

sebastiano89 wrote: post #2

That particular customer had set up their configuration in such a way that the connection from Cloudflare back to the customers origin was not passed over an encrypted link. Is it just me, or this is Google/NSA's "SSL added and removed here! (grinny face)" all over again? http://i.imgur.com/4p9oMTp.jpg

I'm not sure what you mean. What they describe is simply one of Cloudflare's SSL options, called "Flexible SSL", which is often used because it lets sites offer an HTTPS address without having to purchase a certificate themselves (or even setup a self-signed one): https://www.cloudflare.com/ssl/

"Flexible SSL" is just a marketing-speak for "Plain text HTTP to the origin server".