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kretor

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With Google's new API, all ads can still be blocked. There will be a limit for network request blocking rules, but it's very high so that normal users don't reach it. And for those that reach it, only network requests are affected, so adblockers can still use other APIs to hide the ads.

Tavis Ormandy, who discovered the latest and several other Lastpass bugs, has these password manager recommendations:

"KeePass and KeePassX are both good choices. If you really must use an online one, at least LastPass are responsive to researchers and have a competent security team, I would use them."

Asked about the experience he had reporting a 1Password vulnerability, he says:

"Astonishingly bad"

(source: https://twitter.com/taviso/status/1167311357957435392)

Password manager recommendations from Tavis Ormandy, who found the bug:

"KeePass and KeePassX are both good choices. If you really must use an online one, at least LastPass are responsive to researchers and have a competent security team, I would use them."

He adds about Lastpass:

"I consider them competent, I've reported some pretty complex issues and found they handle them well. Attack surface is definitely massive, I always recommend KeePass or just use a book if that's too complicated"

(source: https://twitter.com/taviso/status/1167311357957435392)

tl;dr after reading Google's blog post (https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/advanced-prot...):

Google Chrome will now detect, if you have sync turned on, if your account is enrolled in Google's Advanced Protection Program (https://landing.google.com/advancedprotection/), and in case you are, give you stronger protection from malicious downloads.

The ZDNet article adds a lot of fluff around this, and weirdly calls the Advanced Protection Program "Gmail Advanced Protection Program".

The title ("Chrome will stop displaying ads that are repeatedly flagged as disruptive") is wrong in a couple of ways.

According to the post:

"... Chrome will stop showing all ads on sites that repeatedly display these most disruptive ads after they’ve been flagged.

To determine which ads not to show, we’re relying on the Better Ads Standards from the the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry group dedicated to improving the experience of the ads we see on the web. ..."

They are a bit vage in this post, but as we know from other posts and press briefings, this means:

The site owners will get a notice when Google has found that their site is displaying ads not compliant with the Better Ads Standards. When they don't fix this until after 30 days, all ads on the site are blocked, even those complying with the standards. The site owners can then of course still fix it, and get removed from the block list.

So the "flagging" is actually done by Google, and means the owners of the site get a notice.

It's important to note that the "flagging" is not done by users, but by Google themselves. And they do this based on the Better Ads Standards. After the initial flagging, the site owners are notified, and have 30 days to fix it, until the ads on the site are blocked. They then of course can still fix it, and get the ads unblocked.