Browser Guard Blocked counts wrong

[td47]

BG version 2.3.15. I am seeing sites with counts of blocked items, but clicking on the icon shows nothing blocked. Picture attached

With the add-in in its current state, I don't have confidence in its use.

It is still blocking important things like the Bazaar Voice site (so product reviews cannot be seen until it is unblocked). There are also important product CDN sites for sites like Coles and Woolworths here in Australia, and countless others that get blocked, that make my wife's online shopping a nightmare, when trying to look at product details. She is constantly asking me to remove this add-in, as she is NOT a techie, and does not really know what to unblock, and what to leave. I may have to disable it until it improves.

Ideally, the product should have much better intelligent use of Black and White lists, and better "heuristics", that rely more on the black-list side, rather than "reputation" bias skewing the algorithm, that can too often lead to blocking for no good reason.

Edited January 23, 2022 by td47
Typo, subject changed for clarity

[Porthos]

5 minutes ago, td47 said:

BG version 2.3.15. I am seeing sites with counts of blocked items, but clicking on the icon shows nothing blocked. Picture attached

This is what I see on the same site. What version of Firefox are you using?

[td47]

Firefox version is 96.02

[Porthos]

5 minutes ago, td47 said:

Firefox version is 96.02

I suggest you new use the new feature in Browser Guard to reset it. Then restart the browser. Then try the same site from your first post.

[td47]

@Porthos Many thanks for the suggestion, that went fine. Sorry for the delay in replying, some projects got in the way.

[gonzo]

@td47,

When it comes to shopping and blocked pictures, specifications, reviews, please let us know which commercial sites are affected.  I have fixed some of those, but each one must be confirmed AND compared to other products similar to Browser Guard.  The problem is that Browser Guard (and the like) block trackers to protect you.  Commercial websites may use good, bad or questionable trackers to aid you in your shopping.  I need to separate out the good from the bad to make allowances for the good, while continuing to block the bad.

 

[td47]

@gonzo Thanks for your input on this. While I understand what you are saying, we (wife and myself) have noticed that BG regularly blocks the BazarrVoice site, so we cannot view reviews. Further, BG regularly blocks many CDN servers, and particularly those related to the Australian Woolworth and Coles sites, and this prevents us checking out individual product descriptions to decide to buy or not. It is becoming a pain to check and unblock specific stuff to do this, and as many normal users will not know how to do this, I end up being "BG support" in my household! Personally, I think more "AI style Heuristics" may be needed inside BG, to NOT end up blocking CDN sources, to avoid site functionality failure, and user frustration.

[gonzo]

If you can provide shopping sites that you go to that are affected,  I can take it from there.  I am under strict controls on this subject (because it flies in the face of Browser Guard's purpose), but also recognize that we cannot dictate how eCommerce sites do business.  The one tracker you did mention is unblocked for a number of eCommerce sites, though I cannot unblock it across the board unless I can justify that decision to "higher-ups."

The toughest part of this is you can see what you get, but you don't always know what you don't get if you aren't used to seeing it.  I once had a housemate who said nobody ever stole her mail (after I caught someone trying to do just that). If you know what you are supposed to get, you look for it.  You never look for what you didn't expect, so you don't miss it when you don't get it.  Same logic!

[td47]

@gonzo Thanks for quick response. Here are the common sites we seemt to have trouble with, and the blocked items that seem to fix the issues once unblocked:

https://auspost.com.au/ (cdn.branch.io blocked)

https://www.coles.com.au/ Default Blocks: ( colessupermarketspty.tt.omtrdc.net, colesonline.sc.omtrdc.net)

https://shop.coles.com.au/ (cdn.appdynamics.com, network.bazaarvoice.com, colessupermarketspty.tt.omtrdc.net, colesonline.sc.omtrdc.net)

https://experience.flybuys.com.au/ (this is the Coles Flybuys Loyalty card site) Default blocks:
loyaltypacificptyltd.sc.omtrdc.net, loyaltypacificptyltd.tt.omtrdc.net

https://www.woolworths.com.au/ Default Blocks: (dc.services.visualstudio.com, woolworthsfoodgroup.tt.omtrdc.net)
NOTE: Once logged in, the following blocks can cause catalogue displays to fail, or fail individual product selections:
 woolworthsfoodgroup.tt.omtrdc.net, dc.services.visualstudio.com

https://www.woolworthsrewards.com.au/ (This is the Woolworths Loyalty card site). Default blocks that can affect this:
 tags.tiqcdn.com, woolworthsfoodgroup.sc.omtrdc.net, woolworthsfoodgroup.tt.omtrdc.net

NOTE: As we sometimes get blocked reading news articles, and get some odd login in blockages on some sites, I have added "tags.tiqcdn.com" to the Support -> allow list of each system we use (for ads/trackers only). If I should use that same trick/workaround for the others mentioned here, please let me know.

As an aside, does the forum already have an "affected sites" topic for BG, that can "drive" or suggest White List updates, so that this sort of thing can be added to that? If not, should I create one, as the Original Topic has been a little overtaken by my "added" comments about unexpected blocks, that you have kindly responded to? Apologies for that, if I have not followed proper etiquette on here.

[gonzo]

This is perfect.  I am in discussions with the developer, and have provided him a link to this thread.  Unblocking trackers goes against the grain of Browser Guard, but blocking essential functionality of legitimate websites also goes against the grain of Malwarebytes.  You know what you need to do in the short term to have the functionality that you require, and I will use the information you have provided -- along with other information I have already gathered -- to try to come up with a solution that works for everyone.  Sometimes the wheels turn slowly, but I will be persistent here.

Sites which blend news articles with advertising are sometimes problematic.  I go to one that I have to turn off Browser Guard to see pictures in news stories, then turn it back on afterwards.  Between ads and videos that I did not ask for, they are able to maintain 10 Mb/s usage of my pipe just to waste my time. They have also been known to get as many as 500 BG blocks per minute thanks to their uncivilized way of doing business. The hungrier your news source is for revenue, the more they will justify the value of Browser Guard.

In answer to your last question, there is not an area specifically for affected sites, as it would be quickly saturated with requests and demands to whitelist sites that are legitimately blocked.  There are currently multiple forum areas that requests can be made.  There are teams of people here who read those, verify blockages, determine reasons, and respond (usually) quickly.

[gonzo]

Try it now!

[td47]

@gonzo That is a super-fast response, many thanks!

I still see version 2.3.15 as being the active BG version in my Firefox. Is the checking done at your back-end servers, or within each system's local bad-trackers/threat database?

The reason I ask, is that I still see "woolworthsfoodgroup.sc.omtrdc.net" being blocked for the Woolworths Australia shopping sites, and a check for extension updates did not change the level of BG currently in use.

[gonzo]

Multiple things going on there...

• Firefox is still using 2.3.15, while Chrome/Edge had severe download delay issues with 2.3.15.  Chrome/Edge are on 2.3.16.  We're out of sync. I'm trying to get an answer when two will again become one.
• Program versions are not affected by the "Check For Updates" button, only Threat Databases.  Both check automatically multiple times per hour, but you can force a manual database check with that button.
• Cache is a wonderful thing, except for when its not.  The tracker you just mentioned -- as well as all customer-specific subdomains -- are no longer blocked.  If they still are blocked for you, dump your cache.  That should fix the problem.

[Porthos]

4 minutes ago, gonzo said:

Program versions are not affected by the "Check For Updates" button, only Threat Databases. 

To check for program updates in Firefox, one can do the following.

[td47]

@gonzo Many thanks for the info and the cache suggestion. It does all seem to be better now, no issues so far.

[gonzo]

Glad its working better for you!