AdGuard

AdGuard Software Limited develops ad blocking and privacy protection software. Some of AdGuard's products are open-source, some are free, and some are shareware. AdGuard's DNS app supports Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS. AdGuard is also available as a browser extension.[1]

AdGuard Software Limited
GenreUtility
Browser extension
Server
DNS resolver
Founded1 June 2009 
Headquarters
Cyprus 
Websiteadguard.com
Not to be confused with Adblock.

AdGuard Software Limited was founded in 2009 in Moscow.[2] In 2014 the company was incorporated in Cyprus and subsequently moved its headquarters there.[3][4]

Products

AdGuard products include:

AdGuard Home

AdGuard Home acts as a recursive DNS resolver, which responds with an invalid address for domains that appear in its filter lists quests.[5] It is similar to Pi-hole.

AdGuard Browser extensions

The browser extension blocks video ads, interstitial ads, floating ads, pop-ups, banners, and text ads.[6] There is a possibility to handle anti-AdBlock scripts.[7] The product also blocks spyware and warns users of malicious websites. AdGuard Content Blocker is an additional browser extension for browsers Yandex Browser and Samsung Internet, which uses Content Blocker API. It downloads filter list updates and asks browsers to enforce them via Content Blocker API.

AdGuard applications

AdGuard has Windows and Mac versions,[8] as well as native mobile versions for Android[9] and iOS.[10] The application sets up a local VPN, which filters all traffic on the mobile device.

AdGuard DNS

AdGuard hosts free public DNS servers. Some of these servers provide DNS-level network filtering for blocking domains used for delivering advertisement, online tracking, analytics. The product supports encryption technologies, including DNSCrypt, DNS over HTTPS, DNS over TLS and DNS-over-QUIC.[11] AdGuard DNS also comes with an optional "Family Protection" mode for blocking access to websites with adult content as well as enforcing safe search in search engines.[12] AdGuard began testing DNS service back in 2016, and officially launched it in 2018.[13]

Reception

While the company's products have earned positive feedback in industry publications,[14] a series of policies by Google and Apple app stores occurred in 2014 - 2018, which impeded user access to AdGuard's mobile applications.

Macworld mentioned AdGuard for iOS in a list of five "best adblockers for iOS".[15]

In April 2020, Android Central stated that AdGuard uses "a little more processing power to do its thing than uBlock Origin", but it is "the best all-in-one blocking tool for someone who doesn't want to use more than one extension" because it blocks cryptomining. However, Android Central recommended uBlock Origin with a dedicated cryptomining blocker over AdGuard.[16]

Incidents
  • Distribution of AdGuard's app for Android was discontinued by Google Play at the end of 2014. It nevertheless is still being updated and has been made available for download from the developers’ own website.[17]
  • AdGuard for iOS has not been updated since the summer of 2018 due to Apple policies against ad blocking, though it was still present in the Apple App Store.[18][19][20] In summer 2019, access to the updates of AdGuard's earlier edition for iOS was restored.[21]
  • In September 2018, AdGuard was hit by credential stuffing attack. AdGuard claims that their servers were not compromised and instead attackers used credential pairs reused by victims on other sites and stolen from those other sites. According to company spokesperson, they "do not know what accounts exactly were accessed by the attackers", so the company had reset passwords for all accounts "as a precautionary measure". Also, AdGuard pledged to use "Have I Been Pwned?" API to check all new passwords for appearance in known public data leaks. Furthermore, they implemented a more strict password security requirements.[22][23][24]

In November 2020, Microsoft Edge Store and Chrome web store were infiltrated with fraudulent add-ons posing as various legitimate VPN browser addons, including NordVPN and AdGuard's VPN adddon.[25] Subsequently Microsoft and Google were alerted and actions were taken to remove the imposter addons in the various browser stores.

Research

AdGuard developers have taken up research in order to inform wider audiences on user privacy, cybersecurity and data protection. The following issues are notable cases involving the developers:

References
  1. Andrew Orr "AdGuard Pro is Being Discontinued due to App Store Policy" Archived September 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, MacObserver.com, July 23, 2018
  2. https://adguard.com/de/contacts.html "The birth of AdGuard. Moscow, 2009."
  3. Republic of Cyprus, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism - Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver
  4. "...ADGUARD SOFTWARE LIMITED, a company incorporated according to the laws of the Republic of Cyprus."
  5. Chris Burns "AdGuard Home is an ad-and-tracker blocker for your home" Archived September 22, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, SlashGear.com, October 17, 2018
  6. Eric Griffith "The 18 Best Firefox Quantum Extensions" Archived September 22, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, PC Magazine, February 12, 2018
  7. James A. Martin "The best Google Chrome extensions" Archived December 3, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Computerworld, August 10, 2017
  8. Hougen, Aleksander. "The 8 Best Ad Blockers That Play Nice With Chrome, Safari, Firefox in 2020". Cloudwards. Cloudwards.net. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  9. Painter, Lewis. "Best ad blocker for iPhone & iPad". MacWorld. IDG Communications Ltd. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  10. Hindy, Joe. "5 best ad blocker apps for Android!". Android Authority. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  11. Vasily Bagirov (December 15, 2020). "AdGuard becomes the world's first public DNS-over-QUIC resolver!". AdGuard. Archived from the original on December 16, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  12. "A look at AdGuard DNS - gHacks Tech News". www.ghacks.net. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  13. "AdGuard officially releases its own DNS service, and it works with Android Pie". Android Police. December 29, 2018. Archived from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  14. Pedro Castro "AdGuard 6.4 Controls intrusive ads and keeps your browsing history secure" Archived September 22, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Software.informer.com, October 29, 2018.
  15. Painter, Lewis. "The 5 best ad-blocking apps for iPhone & iPad". Macworld UK. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  16. "The best Chrome extensions to protect your online privacy and security". Android Central. April 30, 2020. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  17. Daria Magdik "Google Removes Adguard App From Google Play" Archived May 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, AdGuard News, November 25, 2014
  18. Andrew Orr "AdGuard Pro is Being Discontinued due to App Store Policy" Archived October 26, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Macobserver.com, July 23, 2018
  19. Andrew Orr "Apple Won’t Say Why It Blocked AdGuard and Freedom" Archived December 3, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Macobserver.com, September 20, 2018
  20. Abhishek Raj "How to block ads on iPhone and iPad with AdGuard" Archived November 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Budding Geek, June 5, 2019
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. Zack Whittaker "AdGuard resets all user passwords after account hacks" Archived October 1, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Techсrunch.com, September 20, 2018
  23. Catalin Cimpanu "AdGuard resets all user passwords after credential stuffing attack" Archived September 21, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, ZeroDay, September 21, 2018
  24. Tom McNamara "All AdGuard ad blocker account passwords have been reset to fight off hackers", CNET, September 21, 2018
  25. Dan Goodin "Abusive add-ons aren’t just a Chrome and Firefox problem. Now it’s Edge’s turn" Archived December 9, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, ArsTechnica, November 21, 2020
  26. Michael Kan "Why Hackers Love Cryptocurrency Miner Coinhive" Archived December 3, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, UK.PCMag, November 29, 2017
  27. Anthony Cuthbertson "Over 500 Million PCs Are Secretly Mining Cryptocurrency, Researchers Reveal" Archived November 1, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Newsweek, October 13, 2017
  28. Charlie Osborne "500 million PCs are being used for stealth cryptocurrency mining online" Archived July 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Zero Day, October 13, 2017
  29. Matthew Hughes "Facebook tracking is present in 41% of the most popular Android apps" Archived February 1, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Thenextweb.com, March 23, 2018
  30. Nadeem Sarwar "Is #DeleteFacebook Enough? Here’s the Harsh Truth About Facebook Tracking Through Apps" Archived September 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Beebom.com, March 27, 2018
  31. Cal Jeffrey "AdGuard reports that 20 million Chrome users have malware infected ad blockers" Archived June 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Techspotl.com, April 19, 2018.
  32. Harry Domanski "Google has kicked five malicious ad blockers off the Chrome Store" Archived October 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Techradar.com, April 19, 2018.
  33. Rei Padla "GO Keyboard apps sends users’ data to servers and third parties, AdGuard says" Archived December 3, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, AndroidCommunity.com, September 23, 2017
  34. Adarsh Verma "11 Million Android, iOS, Chrome, And Firefox Users Infected By Spyware: Delete These Apps Now" Archived December 3, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Fossbytes.com, July 26, 2018
  35. Wagas Amir "Popular Android/iOS apps & Extensions collecting highly personal user data" Archived December 3, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Hackread.com, July 26, 2018
  36. Catalin Cimpanu "Chrome Extensions, Android and iOS Apps Caught Collecting Browsing Data" Archived August 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, BleepeingComputer.com, July 25, 2018
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