Comments on: Why You Need Opera Unite

By: dolphin guest house

dolphin guest house — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:07:32 +0000

Opera unite is great.

By: snackie

snackie — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:50:25 +0000

There's nothing special about a server in the browser. Sure it can have security holes, but so can everything else! This scare mongering is silly.

By: snackie

snackie — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:50:25 +0000

There's nothing special about a server in the browser. Sure it can have security holes, but so can everything else! This scare mongering is silly.

By: Rahsheen

Rahsheen — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:12:20 +0000

All this fearmongering about Opera Unite is starting to get on my nerves. For everyone who is not well versed in networking and all this other boring crap, just keep in mind that running Opera Unite is just not any more dangerous than other things you may do all the time. As I already stated in this post, simply plugging your computer into the internet exposes you to hackers, crackers, malware and viruses. We all know this.

Also, of COURSE you could go buy a cheap computer, install linux and set up a router on it, but who wants to go through all that when the simple action of downloading and installing a new piece of software gets the job done and then some?

By: khurt

khurt — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:20:37 +0000

If you saw what hackers could do with a regular browser you would soon realise that putting a web server in the browser adds fuel to the fire. Being in a sandbox means nothing. Java runs in a sandbox and yet we have seen many exploits over the years that were able to bypass that sandbox. Large companies run servers behind multiple levels of firewalls for a reason, folks. We know that machines get infected with botnet software all the time. Opera Unite in it's present form just makes it more likely and more dangerous.

More informed analysis:
http://www.networkworld.com/reviews/2009/061809...

Truly if I wanted to share files with the world, I could get a used PC off eBay, drop Ubuntu or XAMPP on it, configure my router and call it a day. But ... I know how to lock down and control a server and isolate it from the rest of my home network. The regular Internet user has no idea what that means and does not know the security risks involved.

http://www.cloudave.com/link/opera-unite-do-you...

http://www.linkedin.com/in/khurt

By: snackie

snackie — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:40:40 +0000

@khurt

Why is Unite a bad idea?

(It doesn't expose you more than anything else, which is what the hacker comment is trying to say.)

By: snackie

snackie — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:36:43 +0000

@khurt

You only "expose" your machine if you run Unite services. But they are sandboxed, so they are no worse than anything else.

The last quote there means that people can't get access through Unite, but if you are a cracker/hacker, you can probably find a way, whether it is through Unite or something else. That's the risk of being online at all. Nothing special about Unite there.

Why is Unite a bad idea?

By: Thomas

Thomas — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:07:14 +0000

Everything in Opera Unite runs in a separate and secure sandbox, even each service, so the security model is more rigorous than most people have reported.

By: khurt

khurt — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:56:51 +0000

Hmmm... so each time I use my browser I also expose my machine as a server to ... all the malicious web sites out there. Lovely. Opera Unite is a bad idea.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10265397-2....

Asked whether the platform could be used by someone to access data on the host's PC that the host had not chosen to share, the spokeswoman said: "Definitely not -- unless they're a hacker."

By: David Storey

David Storey — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:00:29 +0000

Thanks for the great post on Opera Unite. It’s great to see Leon’s and your post on Black Web.

One of the big things about Unite is that it is possible that Web developers can build their own services, so I'd love to see if you have any ideas for new Unite services.