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We have raw USB in a web browser. I can access my USB security token from the browser right now. I can access my raw keyboard USB connection from the browser ri

We have raw USB in a web browser. I can access my USB security token from the browser right now. I can access my raw keyboard USB connection from the browser right now. How is network access have less demand that raw USB? Even simple thing like mail client can't work in browser without using third-party server (and sending your password to that server). Same about ssh client, etc. A lot of apps are currently impossible in browser or security nightmare because of this artificial restriction.

easrng 4y ago
Raw USB is a Chrome-only extension, Safari and Firefox don't support it because it's an awful idea. Even so, it's much easier to make a meaningful permission dialog for USB than for a TCP or UDP connection. With USB there's a limited set of devices you can connect to, and they somewhat human-readable names or vendor IDs that can be translated into names, and there's no way to do something like a DNS rebinding attack with them since the browser can detect when the device is unplugged. It is entirely possible to make a secure SSH or IMAP client in the browser, just proxy the encrypted data and do TLS or the SSH protocol in Javascript.