balenaEtcher 2.1.7 — the first minute without a single click
How we tested: a clean Debian 13 in a disposable container; source — official file https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/releases/download/v2.1.7/balena-etcher_2.1.7_amd64.deb (balena-etcher 2.1.7). Run as a regular user on a virtual screen, 60 seconds, nothing clicked. 18.10.2026. Every network request and every file written was recorded; the code was not decompiled. The container was deleted afterwards.
Program website: https://github.com/balena-io/etcher
Package SHA-256: 9dbea6165ddee1ec1f1b7a38fe92f0d2c54c6217710438a7af6752c267d19395
Summary
| What we checked | Result |
|---|---|
| Built-in telemetry, crash reporting, analytics, ad SDKs | Crashpad / Breakpad (crash reports), Squirrel (update checks), Sentry (crash reports), electron-updater (update checks), Electron crashReporter (crash reports) |
| Network requests in the first minute | 2 server names, plus 1 unnamed |
| Known trackers among the servers | none |
| Files written in the first minute | 150 |
| The program ran the whole time | yes — process alive at the end |
What is built in
95 files (604 MB) were checked.
| SDK | Purpose | Found in |
|---|---|---|
| Crashpad / Breakpad | crash reports | usr/bin/balena-etcher |
| Squirrel | update checks | usr/lib/balena-etcher/LICENSES.chromium.html |
| Sentry | crash reports | usr/lib/balena-etcher/resources/app.asar!/package.json |
| electron-updater | update checks | usr/lib/balena-etcher/resources/app.asar!/package.json |
| Electron crashReporter | crash reports | usr/lib/balena-etcher/resources/app.asar!/.webpack/main/index.js |
Addresses of known trackers in the program’s files — addresses in code, not requests:
| Tracker | Addresses | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
c.play.google.com, clients2.google.com, c.android.clients.google.com, c.docs.google.com | 745 | |
| Yahoo | it.search.yahoo.com, at.search.yahoo.com, es.search.yahoo.com, fr.search.yahoo.com | 188 |
| Microsoft Bing Ads | www.bing.com | 10 |
| Google APIs | c.bigcache.googleapis.com, www.googleapis.com, chromewebstore.googleapis.com, maps.googleapis.com | 9 |
| Mail.ru | suggests.go.mail.ru, go.mail.ru | 8 |
| Яндекс.Метрика | suggest.yandex.ru, yandex.ru, www.yandex.ru | 8 |
| Google Static | ssl.gstatic.com, www.gstatic.com | 6 |
| Яндекс | storage.ape.yandex.net | 4 |
| Google Fonts | fonts.googleapis.com | 4 |
| jsDelivr | cdn.jsdelivr.net | 3 |
| YouTube (видео) | googlevideo.com | 2 |
| Google AdSense | c.googlesyndication.com | 2 |
Where it connected
| Server | How | From second | Times | Known tracker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
redirector.gvt1.com | connection | 3.2 | 1 | — |
rr3---sn-oj1gi5-5b.gvt1.com | connection | 3.9 | 1 | — |
[2001:4860:4860::8888]:443 | connection without a name (UDP) | 3.0 | 1 | — |
A DNS lookup is not yet a connection: the program looked up the server’s address. But the lookup itself is visible to the ISP and the DNS server.
What it wrote to disk
Folders the program wrote files to during the minute:
| Folder | Files |
|---|---|
~/.cache/mesa_shader_cache_db | 102 |
~/.config/balenaEtcher | 44 |
~/.pki/nssdb | 3 |
~/.cache/dconf | 1 |
How to read this card
- This is the first minute after launch with no action at all: what the program does on its own. Normal use may involve more requests.
- A “built-in SDK” means the library’s code was found. It does not prove data transfer, and an address in the code is not a request.
- The review was made automatically using a single method. You can check any program yourself here.