Re:Chromium calls home even in incognito mode with safe brow...
by bobbyi_settv on Thursday October 22, 2015 @01:41PM
(#10433606)
Isn't also shortsighted to expect every application to implement its own system for checking for security updates? Wouldn't it be more secure to have this managed by the OS or a package manager instead of hoping every application does it correctly?
Re:Chromium calls home even in incognito mode with safe brow...
by mcherm on Thursday October 22, 2015 @02:36PM
(#10434021)
That depends on whether the OS or package manager does a better job of providing security updates, or the application does.
Historically, browsers -- because of their enormous potential risk (easy to exploit) -- have done a better job of providing security updates quickly than have other tools.
Re:Chromium calls home even in incognito mode with safe brow...
by acdha on Thursday October 22, 2015 @03:20PM
(#10434382)
That's only true if the OS has a solid, secure and open package manager. Linux users have had that since the mid-90s but it still doesn't exist for Windows or OS X users unless you count their respective app stores or are talking about a few niches (Flash, drivers) where Microsoft is willing to distribute things through Windows Update.
Firefox checks for updates, and will update the malware/phishing databases a bit after startup. That's actually the same SafeBrowsing the OP mentions. All of this can be toggled. I'm not sure what your vague "other domains" is.
I'm a bit puzzled at the extreme shortsightedness of a browser checking for security updates being branded as "not having their users' back".