Option to toggle off "security" filters for ourselves

[depthbomb]

By this I mean the very annoying link gate when clicking links pretty much other than YouTube, Imgur, etc. as well as the removing of links in chat messages. Just today I found out that Puush is now blocked which is very disappointing. Me and my friends all use Puush to share screenshots with eachother and it being blacklisted just made it more difficult to quickly share. I know that Puush can be used for uploading any file such as executables but its primary function revolves around sharing images quickly and easily.

I'm 21 and I know my way around a computer. I don't need Steam holding my hand when it comes to the links I encounter. An option to disable both of these for ourselves would be great. It could also be enabled by default to prevent new users from being swindled.

Thanks.

I also apologize if this has been posted before.

[Satoru]

I also apologize if this has been posted before.

Yes because no one could possibly have thought of this before you?

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

nope. sorry. they were blacklisted for a reason.

security on steam goes one way. it increases.

[depthbomb]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

nope. sorry. they were blacklisted for a reason.

security on steam goes one way. it increases.

:qr:

The point of my post is to not get links whitelisted, but to bring to attention that there should be a way for a user to disable these security features for themselves. I'm fine with Puush being blocked as it can, and probably has been, used for bad. But I'm not fine with being forced to have to click twice to visit a link I trust or tell my friends to obfuscate a URL to a site that we've previously shared hundreds of times between eachother just so I can see a screenshot they wanted to share, for example.

It's a nice security feature for people who wouldn't know better, but an absolute annoyance to those who do.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

and valve found out really quick that being able to opt out of a security feature meant more people complaining about being hijacked.

this happened when steam guard email was introduced and hijacking tickets for those who opted out skyrocketed.

valve wont let users choose after that.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by depthbomb:

The point of my post is to not get links whitelisted, but to bring to attention that there should be a way for a user to disable these security features for themselves. I'm fine with Puush being blocked as it can, and probably has been, used for bad. But I'm not fine with being forced to have to click twice to visit a link I trust or tell my friends to obfuscate a URL to a site that we've previously shared hundreds of times between eachother just so I can see a screenshot they wanted to share, for example.

It's a nice security feature for people who wouldn't know better, but an absolute annoyance to those who do.

Unfortunetly users have shown that they will turn off needed security in the past, then blame Valve for the loss of their items and/or account hijacking.

Hence why such measures are not longer optional. It hurts Valve and the other users when an account gets hijacked and/or items stolen.

Sadly, those who need it the most are also the most likely to turn off such security measures.

Seeing as that site hosts more then just images, I suggest finding a dedicated image hosting site as that is not likely to get blocked or transmit malicious content.

[The Grumbleskull]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by depthbomb:

The point of my post is to not get links whitelisted, but to bring to attention that there should be a way for a user to disable these security features for themselves. I'm fine with Puush being blocked as it can, and probably has been, used for bad. But I'm not fine with being forced to have to click twice to visit a link I trust or tell my friends to obfuscate a URL to a site that we've previously shared hundreds of times between eachother just so I can see a screenshot they wanted to share, for example.

It's a nice security feature for people who wouldn't know better, but an absolute annoyance to those who do.

Unfortunetly users have shown that they will turn off needed security in the past, then blame Valve for the loss of their items and/or account hijacking.

Hence why such measures are not longer optional. It hurts Valve and the other users when an account gets hijacked and/or items stolen.

Sadly, those who need it the most are also the most likely to turn off such security measures.

Seeing as that site hosts more then just images, I suggest finding a dedicated image hosting site as that is not likely to get blocked or transmit malicious content.

I hardly see how a select group of idiots turning off their security and getting screwed over should have any effect on the thousands of other steam users with functioning brainstems.

One Related Thread And Another - People care

[Darren]

Because it won't be a select group. And those who most need the protection will be the first to turn it off. If you don't realise what the protection is protecting you from you are more likely to turn it off the most informed people are the least likely to disable the feature.

Also if you want to share game screenshots upload them to Steam. You also have an artwork section where you can upload things you own the copyright for.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Jean-Claude Van Dang:

I hardly see how a select group of idiots turning off their security and getting screwed over should have any effect on the thousands of other steam users with functioning brainstems.

One Related Thread And Another - People care

Account get hijacked due to turning off security feature. Account then spams friends list with same link and message, causing others to become infected by their "friend" and adding stress to the servers. Too much stress, servers slow down for everyone.

Aside from that, hijacked account can effect prices on the markets and be used to create scam trades, effecting other users.

A small group can do a lot if nothing is done to stop it. By blocking out the link, the damage is reduced.

But it isn't a small group we are talking about. As an example, Support used to get 77k hijacked account related tickets a month before the current Steam Guard and Authenticator restriction became mandatory.

[Critwrench]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

But it isn't a small group we are talking about. As an example, Support used to get 77k hijacked account related tickets a month before the current Steam Guard and Authenticator restriction became mandatory.

Oh how terrible, Valve, a multi-billion-dollar company, has to spend some money on their support division. Cry me a river.

The truth of the matter is that this is an inherently selfish decision by Valve, irritating their customers because a portion of their customers happen to also be idiots or the computer-illiterate. I understand that Steam is primarily a marketplace, a "service", but they also happen to masquerade as a community and a chat service, and every time they add to that blacklist they get worse at providing both.

Even Gabe Newell once said that Piracy, the biggest problem in the industry, is a service problem. These frankly insipid link blockades are a service problem, and either Valve can fix them or their customers will start using services like Discord instead.

"The internet perceives censorship as damage and routes around it."

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Critwrench:

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

But it isn't a small group we are talking about. As an example, Support used to get 77k hijacked account related tickets a month before the current Steam Guard and Authenticator restriction became mandatory.

Oh how terrible, Valve, a multi-billion-dollar company, has to spend some money on their support division. Cry me a river.

The truth of the matter is that this is an inherently selfish decision by Valve, irritating their customers because a portion of their customers happen to also be idiots or the computer-illiterate. I understand that Steam is primarily a marketplace, a "service", but they also happen to masquerade as a community and a chat service, and every time they add to that blacklist they get worse at providing both.

Even Gabe Newell once said that Piracy, the biggest problem in the industry, is a service problem. These frankly insipid link blockades are a service problem, and either Valve can fix them or their customers will start using services like Discord instead.

"The internet perceives censorship as damage and routes around it."

Your opinion, not truth.

Welcome to a private forum where the owners get to say decide what is a security risk or not

There are many other image hosting sites. Feel free to use them.

Selfish would be demanding the use of something found to be harmful to other, just for ones own convenience, despite many alternatives available.

Piracy and security of accounts are two seperate issues.

I use both Steam and Discord. If you want to send such links through Discord, you are free to do so. Valve is not responsible for such actions out-side of Steam.

Talk to the site in question and as why they allow malicious content on their site to begin with.

[The Grumbleskull]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

nope. sorry. they were blacklisted for a reason.

security on steam goes one way. it increases.

:qr:

Except that puush works just fine again as of this morning. Valve isn't in the business of perpetually making bad decisions. They've gone back and fixed flubs countless times in the past.


---edit

And good lord that is a horrible attitude to adopt as a moderator totoro. You realize that mod flag on your account means you're supposed to be a respectable representative on valve's behalf right? The goal in customer service is to defuse bad situations, not blindly argue against the opinions of the clientele.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Jean-Claude Van Dang:

Except that puush works just fine again as of this morning. Valve isn't in the business of perpetually making bad decisions. They've gone back and fixed flubs countless times in the past.

And if it becomes a problem, it will be removed again. Keep that in mind and be sure to report it's misuse to the site as they also need to do their part and keep their service clean as well.

Originally posted by Jean-Claude Van Dang:

And good lord that is a horrible attitude to adopt as a moderator totoro. You realize that mod flag on your account means you're supposed to be a respectable representative on valve's behalf right? The goal in customer service is to defuse bad situations, not blindly argue against the opinions of the clientele.

Who said I am blindly arguing? I am allowed my opinion as much as you are allowed yours. I can disagree with someone and someone can disagree with me. It only becomes an issue if I abuse said moderation and use it in a personal way, and that I have not.

And there was no bad situation to defuse, just a discussion.

Btw, I was the one asking Valve why it being blacklisted to begin with in order to see if it could be fixed. That doesn't change the reasons why it was blacklisted.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by Jean-Claude Van Dang:

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

nope. sorry. they were blacklisted for a reason.

security on steam goes one way. it increases.

Except that puush works just fine again as of this morning. Valve isn't in the business of perpetually making bad decisions. They've gone back and fixed flubs countless times in the past

you are right!

i am wrong. completely wrong!

[The Grumbleskull]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

And if it becomes a problem, it will be removed again. Keep that in mind and be sure to report it's misuse to the site as they also need to do their part and keep their service clean as well.

Yeah, I think I'll pass on that. The last thing Valve needs to be wasting their time on is even more arbitrary security features that they don't need. I'm still entirely of the mind that the mobile authenticator is all you need. If you are somehow stupid enough to be in the minority of users who will give away their username, password AND disable steamguard AND not set up recovery options OR authenticator, it shouldn't have an effect on the rest of us.

The grand majority of steam users aren't morons, and a lot of the security features are nothing short of condescending. There is no reason for these features to be mandatory when they could just as easily make it an account toggle to hide external links.
-In fact, it's a downright insult. Taking the matter out of our hands says that they don't trust us to make the right decisions when it comes to our own security.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Jean-Claude Van Dang:

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

And if it becomes a problem, it will be removed again. Keep that in mind and be sure to report it's misuse to the site as they also need to do their part and keep their service clean as well.

Yeah, I think I'll pass on that. The last thing Valve needs to be wasting their time on is even more arbitrary security features that they don't need. I'm still entirely of the mind that the mobile authenticator is all you need. If you are somehow stupid enough to be in the minority of users who will give away their username, password AND disable steamguard AND not set up recovery options or an authenticator that shouldn't have an effect on the rest of us.

The grand majority of steam users aren't morons, and a lot of the security features are nothing short of condescending. There is no reason for these features to be mandatory when they could just as easily make it an account toggle to hide external links.

"be sure to report it's misuse to the site"

To the site, as in the hosting site, so it can be dealt with before it becomes an issue on this site. It was suggested as a way to prevent it from happening in the future.

If you want to not do that, then that is up to you.

The latest issue is a program that will crash Steam, then come up with a "recovery window" asking for log-in and request an SMS code as well as two authenticator codes. That gives the hijackers the ability to create a new authenticator that will work for them.

It isn't a simple or easy to identify method and has been effective recently, even by some of the more tech savvy users. Thinking they are immune or can't be tricked was one of the issues that lead to them getting hijacked.

Remember, no matter how good or secure one is, it only take one small mistake.

Originally posted by Jean-Claude Van Dang:

-In fact, it's a downright insult. Taking the matter out of our hands says that they don't trust us to make the right decisions when it comes to our own security.

You are free to take it how you want. Everyone is allowed their own opinion.