AdGuard explained

AdGuard
Genre:	Utility Browser extension Server DNS resolver
Website:	adguard.com

AdGuard is an ad blocking service for Microsoft Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android and iOS. AdGuard is also available as a browser extension.^[1]

Features

AdGuard Home

AdGuard Home acts as a recursive DNS resolver, which prevents most advertisements from displaying by responding with an invalid address for domains that appear in its filter lists.^[2] 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.^[3] It is also able to handle anti-AdBlock scripts.^[4] AdGuard blocks spyware and warns users of malicious websites. AdGuard Content Blocker is an additional browser extension for Yandex Browser and Samsung Internet, which uses Content Blocker API. It downloads filter list updates and requests browsers to enforce them via Content Blocker API.^[5]

AdGuard applications

AdGuard has Windows and Mac versions,^[6] as well as native mobile versions for Android^[7] and iOS. The application sets up a local VPN, which filters all traffic on the mobile device.

AdGuard DNS

AdGuard operates recursive name servers for public use. AdGuard DNS supports encryption technologies, including DNSCrypt, DNS over HTTPS, DNS over TLS, and DNS over QUIC.^[8] AdGuard began testing DNS service back in 2016, and officially launched it in 2018.^[9]

Server	Description
Default	Blocks advertisement and tracking domains.
Non-filtering	Does not block advertisement and tracking domains, or any other DNS requests.
Family protection	Blocks websites with adult content, enforces safe search in search engines wherever possible, and blocks advertisement and tracking domains.

Incidents

• During late 2014, the distribution of AdGuard's app for Android was removed from Google Play. It has since been made available for download from the developers’ own website.^[10]
• From the summer of 2018 to the summer of 2019, AdGuard for iOS received no updates^{[11] [12] [13]} due to Apple policies at the time against ad blocking via the iOS VPN APIs.
• 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 more strict password security requirements.^[14]
• In November 2020, Microsoft Edge Store and Chrome web store^[15] were infiltrated with fraudulent add-ons posing as various legitimate VPN browser add-ons, including NordVPN and AdGuard's VPN add-on.^[16] Subsequently Microsoft and Google were alerted and actions were taken to remove the fake add-ons in the various browser stores.^[17]

Research

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

• Websites involved in crypto jacking^{[18] [19] [20]}
• Facebook Ad Network widespread distribution^{[21] [22]}
• Alerting or reporting of fake ad blockers^{[23] [24]}
• Popular Android and iOS app privacy issues^{[25] [26] [27] [28]}

See also

• AdBlock
• Adblock Plus
• uBlock Origin
• AdAway

Notes and References

1. Andrew Orr "AdGuard Pro is Being Discontinued due to App Store Policy", MacObserver.com, July 23, 2018
2. Web site: Burns . Chris . 2018-10-17 . AdGuard Home Is An Ad-And-Tracker Blocker For Your Home . 2023-05-07 . SlashGear . en-US.
3. Eric Griffith "The 18 Best Firefox Quantum Extensions", PC Magazine, February 12, 2018
4. James A. Martin "The best Google Chrome extensions", Computerworld, August 10, 2017
5. Web site: AdGuard Content Blocker Overview AdGuard . 2023-11-19 . adguard.com . en.
6. Web site: Hougen . Aleksander . The 8 Best Ad Blockers That Play Nice With Chrome, Safari, Firefox in 2020 . Cloudwards . Cloudwards.net . 2020-12-08 . January 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210111070634/https://www.cloudwards.net/best-pop-up-blockers/ . live .
7. Web site: Painter . Lewis . Best ad blocker for iPhone & iPad . MacWorld . IDG Communications Ltd . 8 December 2020 . November 12, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201112023835/https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/best-ad-blocker-for-iphone-ipad-3665858/ . live .
8. Web site: Vasily Bagirov . AdGuard becomes the world's first public DNS-over-QUIC resolver! . AdGuard . https://archive.today/20201216061232/https://adguard.com/en/blog/dns-over-quic.html . December 16, 2020 . en . 2020-12-15 . December 18, 2020 . live .
9. Web site: 2018-12-29. AdGuard officially releases its own DNS service, and it works with Android Pie. 2020-11-02. Android Police. en-US. August 1, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190801170106/https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/12/29/adguard-officially-releases-its-own-dns-service-and-it-works-with-android-pie/. live.
10. Daria Magdik "Google Removes Adguard App From Google Play", AdGuard News, November 25, 2014
11. Web site: Orr . Andrew . 2018-09-20 . Apple Won't Say Why It Blocked AdGuard and Freedom . 2023-05-07 . The Mac Observer . en-US.
12. Web site: Raj . Abhishek . 2019-06-05 . How to block ads on iPhone & iPad? Tips that work in 2022 . 2023-05-07 . Budding Geek . en-US.
13. Web site: AdGuard Pro for iOS is back from the dead! . July 27, 2019 . July 27, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190727071651/https://adguard.com/en/blog/adguard-pro-is-back.html . live .
14. Web site: McNamara . Tom . 2018-09-21 . All AdGuard ad blocker account passwords have been reset to fight off hackers . CNET . https://web.archive.org/web/20181204005746/https://download.cnet.com/news/all-adguard-ad-blocker-account-passwords-have-been-reset-to-fight-off-hackers/ . 4 December 2018 . dead.
15. News: Domanski . Harry . Google has kicked five malicious ad blockers off the Chrome Store . TechRadar . 19 April 2018 . en.
16. Dan Goodin "Abusive add-ons aren’t just a Chrome and Firefox problem. Now it’s Edge’s turn", ArsTechnica, November 21, 2020
17. Web site: These VPN extensions are imposters that hijack your browser's search . Komando.com . 24 November 2020.
18. Michael Kan "Why Hackers Love Cryptocurrency Miner Coinhive", UK.PCMag, November 29, 2017
19. Anthony Cuthbertson "Over 500 Million PCs Are Secretly Mining Cryptocurrency, Researchers Reveal", Newsweek, October 13, 2017
20. Charlie Osborne "500 million PCs are being used for stealth cryptocurrency mining online", Zero Day, October 13, 2017
21. Matthew Hughes "Facebook tracking is present in 41% of the most popular Android apps", Thenextweb.com, March 23, 2018
22. Nadeem Sarwar "Is #DeleteFacebook Enough? Here’s the Harsh Truth About Facebook Tracking Through Apps", Beebom.com, March 27, 2018
23. Cal Jeffrey "AdGuard reports that 20 million Chrome users have malware infected ad blockers", Techspotl.com, April 19, 2018.
24. Harry Domanski "Google has kicked five malicious ad blockers off the Chrome Store", Techradar.com, April 19, 2018.
25. Rei Padla "GO Keyboard apps sends users’ data to servers and third parties, AdGuard says", AndroidCommunity.com, September 23, 2017
26. Adarsh Verma "11 Million Android, iOS, Chrome, And Firefox Users Infected By Spyware: Delete These Apps Now", Fossbytes.com, July 26, 2018
27. Wagas Amir "Popular Android/iOS apps & Extensions collecting highly personal user data", Hackread.com, July 26, 2018
28. Catalin Cimpanu "Chrome Extensions, Android and iOS Apps Caught Collecting Browsing Data", BleepeingComputer.com, July 25, 2018