Category Archives: browsers

Improving Native Message Host Reliability on Windows

Last Update: Mar 29, 2023 Previously, I’ve written about Chromium’s Native Messaging functionality that allows a browser extension to talk to a process running outside of the browser’s sandbox, and I shared a Native Messaging Debugger I wrote that allows you to monitor (and even tamper with) the communication channels between the browser extension andContinue reading “Improving Native Message Host Reliability on Windows”

Q: “Remember this Device, Doesn’t?!?”

Q: Many websites offer a checkbox to “Remember this device” or “Remember me” but it often doesn’t seem to work. For example, this option on AT&T’s website shown when prompting for a 2FA code: …doesn’t seem to work. What’s up with that? A: Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer here. There is no browser standard forContinue reading “Q: “Remember this Device, Doesn’t?!?””

Defense Techniques: Reporting Phish

While I have a day job, I’ve been moonlighting as a crimefighting superhero for almost twenty years. No, I’m not a billionaire who dons a rubber bat suit to beat up bad guys– I’m instead flagging phishing websites that try to steal money and personal information from the less tech-savvy among us. I have hadContinue reading “Defense Techniques: Reporting Phish”

Attack Techniques: Phishing via Local Files

One attack technique I’ve seen in use recently involves enticing the victim to enter their password into a locally-downloaded HTML file. The attack begins by the victim receiving an email lure with a HTML file attachment (for me, often with the .shtml file extension): When the user opens the file, a HTML-based credential prompt isContinue reading “Attack Techniques: Phishing via Local Files”

TLS Certificate Verification Changes in Edge

Updated Timeline as of Mar 2023: When establishing a secure HTTPS connection with a server, a browser must validate that the certificate sent by the server is valid — that is to say, that: In the past, Chromium running on Windows delegated this validation task to APIs in the operating system, layering a minimal setContinue reading “TLS Certificate Verification Changes in Edge”

“Not Secure” Warning for IE Mode

A customer recently wrote to ask whether there was any way to suppress the red “/!\ Not Secure” warning shown in the omnibox when IE Mode loads a HTTPS site containing non-secure images: Notably, this warning isn’t seen when the page is loaded in modern Edge mode or in Chrome, because all non-secure “optionally-blockable” resourceContinue reading ““Not Secure” Warning for IE Mode”

Q: Why do tabs sometimes show an orange dot?

Sometimes, you’ll notice that a background tab has an orange dot on it in Edge (or a blue dot in Chrome). If you click on the tab, the dot disappears. Why? The dot indicates that the tab wants “attention” — more specifically, that there’s a dialog in the tab asking for your attention. This mightContinue reading “Q: Why do tabs sometimes show an orange dot?”

Capturing Logs for Debugging SmartScreen

The Microsoft Edge browser makes use of a service called Microsoft Defender SmartScreen to help protect users from phishing websites and malicious downloads. The SmartScreen service integrates with a Microsoft threat intelligence service running in the cloud to quickly block discovered threats. As I explained last year, the SmartScreen service also helps reduce spurious securityContinue reading “Capturing Logs for Debugging SmartScreen”

HTTPS Goofs: Forgetting the Bare Domain

As I mentioned, the top failure of HTTPS is failing to use it, and that’s particularly common in in-bound links sent via email, in newsletters, and the like. Unfortunately, there’s another common case, whereby the user simply types your bare domain name (example.com) in the browser’s address bar without specifying https:// first. For decades, manyContinue reading “HTTPS Goofs: Forgetting the Bare Domain”