4 expanded posts ยท every known parent and child
If you want to bar access to your site from a Netscape browser, such can easily be accomplished. If memory serves, every browser, when connecting to a site, exchanges certain information about the client with the server. One can gain access easily to that information. I believe that Netscape uses "Mozilla" as their keyword when exchanging browser-specific information.
On Fri, 1 Dec 1995, Ed Carp wrote: > I believe that Netscape uses "Mozilla" as their keyword when > exchanging browser-specific information. The field is User-Agent. However, blocking access to users of Navigator isn't a particularly useful thing to do. If you must do something, why not modify your GET handler to add a header to the start of all html pages informing people of the problem, and suggesting alternatives. Someone else [I can't remember, but I'll call them Alice] claimed that the security problems showing up were part of a deliberate conspiracy. To anyone who knows anything about the history of these things knows how absurd this is. The principals at Netscape are a nice bunch of really guys, but were not really up to speed on issues like security and networking- for example, the first incarnation of SSL had an RC4 stream running with no checksumming whatsoever. The security problems that resulted are due to the learning curve. Simon
> The field is User-Agent. However, blocking access to users of Navigator > isn't a particularly useful thing to do. If you must do something, why > not modify your GET handler to add a header to the start of all html > pages informing people of the problem, and suggesting alternatives. I haven't modified my GET, but at the top of all the standard c2.org web pages (http://www.c2.org/) if you are using pre-1.12 netscape, it barfs at you with a nasty message. I plan on adding a line for all netscape browsers, with a link to Lance's page, once it is ready. (Maybe it is ready now, I just haven't looked yet.) > > Someone else [I can't remember, but I'll call them Alice] claimed that the > security problems showing up were part of a deliberate conspiracy. To > anyone who knows anything about the history of these things knows how > absurd this is. The principals at Netscape are a nice bunch of really > guys, but were not really up to speed on issues like security and > networking- for example, the first incarnation of SSL had an RC4 stream > running with no checksumming whatsoever. The security problems that > resulted are due to the learning curve. > > Simon > -- sameer Voice: 510-601-9777 Community ConneXion FAX: 510-601-9734 The Internet Privacy Provider Dialin: 510-658-6376 http://www.c2.org/ (or login as "guest") sameer@c2.org
> The field is User-Agent. However, blocking access to users of Navigator > isn't a particularly useful thing to do. If you must do something, why > not modify your GET handler to add a header to the start of all html > pages informing people of the problem, and suggesting alternatives. Great idea! I'm sure there is a cyberpunk on this list willing to write a patch to NCSA HTTPd to get the job done, in a configurable manor of course so that a template.html would be 'inserted' at the top of every document sent out to the specified browser. Any takers?