Anonymous Hackers Target TikTok: ‘Delete This Chinese Spyware Now’

[afacc123]

My friend uses it for literally hours every single day. I told her how terrible it is, linked her sources and articles, and her response was "meh.. I've already surrendered myself to being spied on over the internet, so I'm fine with it."

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

My friend uses it for literally hours every single day. I told her how terrible it is, linked her sources and articles, and her response was "meh.. I've already surrendered myself to being spied on over the internet, so I'm fine with it."

I hate this response. It has become such a standard reply for things like this it's ridiculous. Even if you already have been spied on, any step or option possible to ramp up privacy should be taken. Delete facebook, use appropriate Firefox plugins on desktop and mobile (there are at least 4 I would recommend to everyone) and keep yourself up to date, it's not that difficult.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

I hate this response. It has become such a standard reply for things like this it's ridiculous. Even if you already have been spied on, any step or option possible to ramp up privacy should be taken. Delete facebook, use appropriate Firefox plugins on desktop and mobile (there are at least 4 I would recommend to everyone) and keep yourself up to date, it's not that difficult.

What 4 plugins are those?

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

What 4 plugins are those?

In my recommendation and daily use, I have Decentraleyes, uBlock Origin, HTTPS Everywhere, and Privacy Badger

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

In my recommendation and daily use, I have Decentraleyes, uBlock Origin, HTTPS Everywhere, and Privacy Badger

I'd add noscript. It makes some websites break, but seeing half the stuff they use to spy on you makes it worth the effort to white list.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

I'd add noscript. It makes some websites break, but seeing half the stuff they use to spy on you makes it worth the effort to white list.

That's an understatement. It genuinely breaks almost every site. I just got tired of messing with it. Other plugins are still cool, though.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

That's an understatement. It genuinely breaks almost every site. I just got tired of messing with it. Other plugins are still cool, though.

It breaks every site initially. Which is a pain. But as you build out your whitelist (eg: most sites only require 1 or 2 scripts out of their 30+ scripts to run at full functionality) you mostly stop noticing it. Most people only visit the same handful of sites consistently.

The speed boost is massive though. Obviously when you've blocked 28/30 scripts on a site, it loads way faster.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

It breaks every site initially. Which is a pain. But as you build out your whitelist (eg: most sites only require 1 or 2 scripts out of their 30+ scripts to run at full functionality) you mostly stop noticing it. Most people only visit the same handful of sites consistently.

The speed boost is massive though. Obviously when you've blocked 28/30 scripts on a site, it loads way faster.

Problem for me is I have no idea what scripts are needed and safe. Is it just a matter of toggling on one script at a time until a site finally loads up? I had some sites show they had like 30 scripts.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

Problem for me is I have no idea what scripts are needed and safe. Is it just a matter of toggling on one script at a time until a site finally loads up? I had some sites show they had like 30 scripts.

Sometimes it's a guessing game, but in the largest majority of scenarios a website like "testwebsite.com" will have 1 script called "testwebsite.js" and maybe one called "testwebsite-cdn.js" whitelisting those is almost always enough. Usually anything containing "cdn" is something you should whitelist.

then like 30 scripts like "abd-ad-contebt-hqshsg.js" the more cryptic and unrelated they sound, the more likely they're just some random unnecessary tracker.

And again you've only got to figure it out 1 time then it's good to go forever.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

Sometimes it's a guessing game, but in the largest majority of scenarios a website like "testwebsite.com" will have 1 script called "testwebsite.js" and maybe one called "testwebsite-cdn.js" whitelisting those is almost always enough. Usually anything containing "cdn" is something you should whitelist.

then like 30 scripts like "abd-ad-contebt-hqshsg.js" the more cryptic and unrelated they sound, the more likely they're just some random unnecessary tracker.

And again you've only got to figure it out 1 time then it's good to go forever.

Or when you order some stuff online and your payment gets handled, but the order itself is blocked.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

Or when you order some stuff online and your payment gets handled, but the order itself is blocked.

Exactly. It's one of the first addons I install.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

Exactly. It's one of the first addons I install.

Did you have the auto site fixer thing? Stops most popular/common sites from breaking.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

Did you have the auto site fixer thing? Stops most popular/common sites from breaking.

It genuinely breaks almost every site.

But that's the point.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

It genuinely breaks almost every site.

But that's the point.

Yep - basically anything you "do" on a webpage that doesn't require another page load is done with javascript. I would not recommend no script.

[afacc123]

Just now, afacc123 said:

Yep - basically anything you "do" on a webpage that doesn't require another page load is done with javascript. I would not recommend no script.

I would absolutely not recommend it to most people. Universal stuff needs to be painless, like ublock. NoScript takes effort just to get some sites working.