189 lines
13 KiB
HTML
189 lines
13 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
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<head>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="application/xhtml+xml;charset=utf-8"/>
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<title>SRWare Iron — Spyware Watchdog</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="../style.css"/>
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</head>
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<body>
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<div class="case">
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<div class="nav"><a href="index.html">← Catalog</a></div>
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<div class="main">
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<img src="../images/srware_logo.png" alt="SRWare Iron Logo"/>
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<h1>SRWare Iron</h1>
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<p>
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SRWare Iron is a free web browser, and an implementation of Chromium by SRWare of Germany.
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</p>
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<h2>Spyware Level: <span class="red">EXTREMELY HIGH</span></h2>
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<p>
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SRWare Iron claims to be a privacy respecting web browser that is an alternative to <a href="../articles/chrome.html">Google Chrome</a>'s
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spyware, and specifically brands itself as a privacy respecting web browser that aims to give users
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the Chrome experience without Google's spyware. However, when examining this program, these claims
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instantly melt away. SRWare Iron connects to an absolutely incredible amount of trackers and opens
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connections to an enormous amount of servers on its first run. It racks up a rough estimate of
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<b><font color="yellow">~400-500 unsolicited connections</font></b>, and it actually took several minutes for it to stop making new
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requests and connections. SRWare Iron uses the spyware search engine <a href="../articles/bing.html">Bing</a> as its default search
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engine, however it goes beyond that and routes your requests to Bing through its own servers
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so that it can spy on your internet searches as well. The bottom line is that this browser is just
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another false privacy initiative and is really <b><font color="red">no better than Chrome.</font></b>
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</p>
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<p>
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Version 69.0.3600.0 of SRWare Iron was tested on Windows 7 64-bit. MITMproxy, Microsoft Network Monitor 3.4,
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and Sysinternals ProcMon were used to monitor the behavior of this program.
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</p>
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<h3>False Privacy Initiative</h3>
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<p>
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SRWare Iron claims on its website that it is:
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</p>
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<p><i>
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"Chrome thrilled with an extremely fast site rendering, a sleek design and innovative features. But it also gets critic from data protection specialists, for reasons such as creating a unique user ID or the submission of entries to Google to generate suggestions. SRWare Iron is a real alternative. The browser is based on the Chromium-source and offers the same features as Chrome, but without the critical points that the privacy concern."
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</i><sup><a href="#s1">[1]</a></sup></p>
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<p>
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The reality is that you are merely trading in one spyware product for another. Where Chrome's spyware has been removed,
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Iron's spyware is there to replace it. Which poison are you going to pick? The worst part is that people will read what is
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claimed on SRWare's website and believe it without doing any tests for themselves. Like
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<a href="https://dottech.org/23821/srware-iron-a-privacy-oriented-web-browser-built-from-google-chromes-source-code/">this article</a>
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<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20160327201202/http://dottech.org/23821/srware-iron-a-privacy-oriented-web-browser-built-from-google-chromes-source-code/">[web.archive.org]</a>
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that just copies the comparison-list from Iron's website without any real investigation before declaring it a privacy alternative to Chrome.
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The most audacious thing about it is this incredible quote on the FAQ section for the Iron browser:
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</p>
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<p><i>
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"Can i really check that Iron doesn't submit any private data, how you say? Yes, you can. There are tools like Wireshark, which scan the whole network-traffic. We could not recognize any obvious activity. But you can proof this by yourself."
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</i><sup><a href="#s2">[2]</a></sup></p>
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<p>
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Which is just an amazing gem in the context of what is actually found when running tests on the software.
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</p>
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<h3>Massive amount of connections on first startup</h3>
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<p>
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When you first start SRWare Iron, it will immediately open the following two pages: <code>https://iron.start.me/us</code> and
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<code>https://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php</code>. The most offensive page is the <code>start.me</code> domain
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which begins loading in an enormous amount of spyware from all over the internet. I did not count the specific amount of requests
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but it was somewhere in the 400-500 range (my software doesn't provide a great amount of automation... or maybe i'm not using it
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as well as I could). This <a href../images/iron_spyware.png">image</a> (at 1.06 MB- almost 1/4 of the size of the entire site as of writing!)
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should give you an idea of the amount of requests I was swamped by. It took a while for it to die down. On subsequent runs the
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amount of requests it sent was far less. It connected to spyware platforms like Google Analytics and Piwik, and executed their JavaScript payloads.
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There were a lot of redundant connections to Google Analytics so it's probable that multiple companies are able to send their own
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analytics payloads through this homescreen. Thus thoroughly fingerprinting and profiling your web browser and computer the moment you
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begin browsing the internet with your new "privacy respecting" browser — so that all of these advertising companies can track you
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everywhere you go!
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</p>
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<p>
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When checking the browser's connections in Network Monitor 3.4, you could see that it connected to a huge amount
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of servers, even though only two domains were ever contacted. <a href../images/iron_connections.png">This screenshot</a> doesn't capture
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all of the IP addresses that it connected, but should give you an idea.
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</p>
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<p>
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And just so that there is no ambiguity, this notice is shown when you load this homepage:
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</p>
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<p><i>
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"We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features
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and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site
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with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it
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with other information you’ve provided to them or they’ve collected from your
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use of their services."
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</i></p>
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<p>
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Just so that there is no doubt- you are being served tracking cookies by advertising companies.
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</p>
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<h3>Redirecting of internet searches through developer's domain</h3>
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<p>
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After you've finished identifying your web browser to just about every single spyware company on the internet, you can begin
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making internet searches with your new SRWare Iron browser. The default search engine is the spyware search engine <a href="../articles/bing.html">Bing</a>.
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However, it's not enough to just point you at a spyware search engine... when you try and actually run a search on Bing, this is what happens:
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</p>
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<img class="screenshot" src="../images/iron_bing.png" alt="SRWare Iron redirecting through its own servers">
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<p>
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Basically, every time you make a search with this browser, your searches are sent through the developer's servers.
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So, the developer can know exactly what your internet history is, in this way. Your searches are also being sent through
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<code>wisesearches.com</code>, but I don't know who they are. So now instead of giving up your search history to one
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spyware company, Google, you can give it to three spyware companies, by switching to this browser. This is a very similar
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tactic to the one that the spyware browser <a href="../articles/slimjet.html">Slimjet</a> uses, where it routes searches to
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Bing through its own domains.
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</p>
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<h3>Motivations of the SRWare Iron developer?</h3>
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<p>
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If you dig deeper into how SRWare Iron was created, you can find some interesting information from some of the developers of
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Chrome about the motivations behind the creation of this fork. More specifically this very interesting conversation:<sup><a href="#s3">[3]</a></sup>
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</p>
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<xmp>
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<Kmos> Iron: why not contribute to it, instead of forking ?
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<Iron> because i removed all privacy-related code
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<Iron> e.g. RLZ
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<Iron> and URL tracking every 5 seconds after start
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<Iron> the original chrome is heavily communitating to google...i hate that
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<jamessan> all of those are supposed to have options to disable them, iirc
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<Iron> yes but they haven't options yet
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<Iron> and nobody knows when the next beta is released
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<jamessan> so work on getting the options added so they'll be there for the next release
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<mgreenblatt> Iron.. why not propose a patch based on preprocessor defines that disables the sections you dislike without forking the code?
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<mgreenblatt> (assuming such a thing doesn't already exist)
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<Iron> because a fork will bring a lot of publicity to my person and my homepage
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<Iron> that means: a lot of money too ;)
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<Kmos> rotflol
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<Iron> what means rotful?
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<mgreenblatt> Iron.. you're a large corporation that can dedicate the time to support a fork of something as complicated as chromium?
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<Kmos> Iron: google about it
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<Iron> yes there is enough time to support it
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<jamessan> heh, you're expecting to make lots of money from making a fork of chromium? that's quite amusing
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<Iron> i don't take money for my fork
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<Iron> but i have adsense on my page ;)
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<Iron> a lot of visitor -> a lot of clicka > a lot of money ;)
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<Kmos> and do you think google should support your fork
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<Kmos> lol
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<mgreenblatt> Iron.. it's always good to have dreams ;-)
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<Iron> we are here in germany
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<Iron> the press will love my fork
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<Iron> i talked to much journalists already
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<DrPizza> Why are you forking?
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<DrPizza> to do what?
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<Iron> to remove all things in source talking to google ;)
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<jamessan> to get fame and fortune
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<Iron> nobody here trusts google
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<Iron> the german people say: google is very evil
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<jamessan> yet you use google's adsense
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</xmp>
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<p>
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So, this could explain a lot... the motivation for this web browser to exist was to monetize
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privacy concerns by generating traffic to his website, where he could make money by serving spyware
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to the very users that wanted to escape from it. Then his fork gets loaded up with all sorts of
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spyware from all sorts of other companies... which he probably makes some amount of money from as well.
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(why else would he take the time to integrate these things into his browser? We can only speculate.)
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At the end of the day it's pretty clear that this browser is a huge scam and you shouldn't use it.
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</p>
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</div>
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<hr>
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<div class="footer">
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<div class="sources">
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<h4>Sources:</h4>
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<ol>
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<li id="s1">
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<a href="http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php">SRWare Iron: The Browser of the future — Overview</a>
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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181118232123/http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php">[web.archive.org]</a>
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<a href="https://archive.is/qMNlG">[archive.is]</a><br>
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</li>
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<li id="s2">
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<a href="https://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron_faq.php">SRWare Iron: The Browser of the future — Frequently asked questions</a>
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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180502103925/http://www.srware.net:80/en/software_srware_iron_faq.php">[web.archive.org]</a>
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<a href="https://archive.fo/TXJbh">[archive.is]</a><br>
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</li>
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<li id="s3">
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<a href="http://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2009/12/iron.html">The story of Iron</a>
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<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20180427094010/http://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2009/12/iron.html">[web.archive.org]</a><br>
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</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<hr>
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<b>This article was last edited on 11/20/2018</b>
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<!--Dont change-->
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<p>If you want to edit this article, or contribute your own article(s), visit us at the git repo on <a href="https://codeberg.org/shadow/SpywareWatchdog">Codeberg</a>.</p>
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<p>All contributions must be licensed under the CC0 license to be accepted.</p>
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<a href="../LICENSE"><img class="icon" src="../images/cc0.png" alt="CC0 License"/></a>
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<!--Dont change-->
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</div>
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</div>
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</body>
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</html>
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