New Relic Browser Monitoring (RUM) Technology Detection Scanner

New Relic Browser Monitoring (RUM) is a tool used by website developers and administrators to track and monitor real-time user metrics on their websites. It is designed to gather performance data to help improve user experience by highlighting areas that require optimization. This software collects details about how users interact with web pages, detecting issues related to speed, responsiveness, and overall performance. Organizations use New Relic's RUM to gauge the effectiveness of their web applications and identify critical points that impact satisfaction. It is integrated into digital assets through scripts and configurations embedded in the web pages to facilitate this monitoring. Being a widely adopted tool, its presence on a website indicates the deployment of performance tracking mechanisms.

This scanner aims to detect the presence of New Relic Browser Monitoring technology in web applications. By identifying specific artifacts like 'nreum', 'nr-data', and references to 'newrelic-browser-agent', the tool confirms the use of New Relic's RUM on a web page. Since the presence of such technology could influence site performance and data analysis, detecting it is crucial for evaluation. This detection helps security personnel and site developers ensure the comprehensive monitoring of website activity without compromising user data privacy. Understanding what technologies are implemented on a site can also aid in assessing potential security measures. This scanner plays a preventive role by signaling if New Relic RUM is part of the technology stack in use.

Technically, the scanner works by sending HTTP GET requests to the target URL to check for specific patterns and keywords within the page's body contents. It specifically looks for indicators like 'nreum.loader_config', 'newrelic-browser-agent', 'js-agent.newrelic.com', 'nreum', and 'nr-data'. A positive detection indicates these identifiers are present, suggesting the integration of New Relic Browser Monitoring. The scanner first ensures that the response status code from the server is either 200 or 400, which is necessary for validating the sense of presence of these artifacts. These steps ensure the detection is accurate and meaningful, providing confidence in the results the scan produces.

When New Relic Browser Monitoring is detected on a web page, it confirms that user interactions and performance metrics are likely being recorded and analyzed. While this is generally beneficial for optimizing site performance, it may raise considerations around user privacy and data collection consent. The technology might potentially expose metadata about users or provide insights into user behavior patterns. If mishandled, this data could become a target for unauthorized access or exploitation. Therefore, understanding its presence helps maintain a balance between performance monitoring and privacy considerations.

REFERENCES

• https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/browser/