Per-Site Permissions in Edge

Last year, I wrote about how the new Microsoft Edge browser mostly ignores Security Zones (except in very rare circumstances) to configure security and permissions decisions. Instead, in Chromium per-site permissions are controlled by settings and policies expressed using a simple syntax with limited wildcarding support. Settings Page’s Site Permissions and Group Policy Internet ExplorerContinue reading “Per-Site Permissions in Edge”

Client Certificates and Logout

Last Updated May 16, 2022 Back in May 2020, I wrote about Client Certificate Authentication, a mechanism that allows websites to strongly validate the identity of their visitors using certificates presented by the visitor’s browser. One significant limitation for client certificate authentication is that there is no standards-based mechanism for a user to “log out”Continue reading “Client Certificates and Logout”

Analyzing Network Traffic Logs (NetLog json)

Previously, I’ve described how to capture a network traffic log from Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and applications based on Chromium or Electron. In this post, I aim to catalog some guidance for looking at these logs to help find the root cause of captured problems and otherwise make sense of the data collected. Last Update:Continue reading “Analyzing Network Traffic Logs (NetLog json)”

Debugging Proxy Configuration Scripts in the new Edge

I’ve written about Browser Proxy Configuration a few times over the years, and I’m delighted that Chromium has accurate & up-to-date documentation for its proxy support. One thing I’d like to call out is that Microsoft Edge’s new Chromium foundation introduces a convenient new debugging feature for debugging the behavior of Proxy AutoConfiguration (PAC) scripts.Continue reading “Debugging Proxy Configuration Scripts in the new Edge”

Enigma Conference 2020 – Browser Privacy Panel

Brave, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge presented on our current privacy work at the Enigma 2020 conference in late January. The talks were mostly high-level, but there were a few feature-level slides for each browser. My ~10 minute presentation on Microsoft Edge was first, followed by Firefox, Chrome, and Brave. At 40 minutesContinue reading “Enigma Conference 2020 – Browser Privacy Panel”

“Can I… in the new Edge?” (Un-FAQ)

This post is intended to collect a random set of questions I’ve been asked multiple times about the new Chromium-based Edge. I’ll add to it over time. I wouldn’t call this a FAQ because these questions, while repeated, are not frequently asked. Last Update: March 10, 2023 Can I get a list of all supportedContinue reading ““Can I… in the new Edge?” (Un-FAQ)”

Bypassing AppProtocol Prompts

Starting in Microsoft Edge 77 (and Chrome 77), the prompt shown when launching an AppProtocol from the browser was changed to remove the “Always allow” checkbox. That change was made, in large part, because this prompt is the only thing standing between every arbitrary site on the Internet (loaded inside your browser’s sandbox) and aContinue reading “Bypassing AppProtocol Prompts”

Microsoft’s Three Browsers

It’s an interesting time. Microsoft now maintains three different web browsers: Internet Explorer 11 Microsoft Edge Legacy (Spartan, v18 and below) Chromium-based Microsoft Edge (v79+) If you’re using Internet Explorer 11, you should stop; sometimes, this is easier said than done. If you’re using Legacy Microsoft Edge, you should upgrade to the new Microsoft EdgeContinue reading “Microsoft’s Three Browsers”

Retiring Internet Explorer

Prelude In late 2004, I was the Program Manager for Microsoft’s clipart website, delivering a million pieces of clipart to Microsoft Office customers every day. It was great fun. But there was a problem– our “Clip of the Day” feature, meant to spotlight a new and topical piece of clipart every day, wasn’t changing asContinue reading “Retiring Internet Explorer”

Capture Network Logs (NetLog) from Edge and Chrome (and Electron and WebView2)

Problems in accessing websites can often be found and fixed if the network traffic between the browser and the website is captured as the problem occurs and the resulting log file is shared with engineers. This short post explains how to capture such log files. Capturing Network Traffic Logs If someone asked you to readContinue reading “Capture Network Logs (NetLog) from Edge and Chrome (and Electron and WebView2)”