Previously, I’ve written a lot about Application Protocols, which are a simple and popular common mechanism for browsers to send a short string of data out to an external application for handling. For instance, mailto is a common example of a scheme treated as an Application Protocol; if you invoke mailto:someone@somewhere.com, the browser will convertContinue reading “Adding Protocol Schemes to Chromium”
Tag Archives: security
Lock down web browsing using Kiosk Mode
Browsers get used in many different environments. Today, I take a look at scenarios where there’s either no interactive user (digital signage) or a potentially malicious user (internet kiosks). Digital Signage (fullscreen) Requirements In the Digital Signage scenario, there’s a full-screen webpage rendering and there are no user-accessible input devices– the canonical example here wouldContinue reading “Lock down web browsing using Kiosk Mode”
Microsoft Edge’s Many Processes
Chromium-based browsers like Microsoft Edge use a multi-process architecture for reliability and security reasons. tl;dr For reliability, Process isolation means that if one process crashes, the entire browser need not go down. For example, if a page on leaky.com has a memory leak that’s so bad that its tab crashes with an out-of-memory error, yourContinue reading “Microsoft Edge’s Many Processes”
Download Blocking by File Type
Last Updated: 20 May 2024 I’ve previously gushed about the magic of the File Type Policies component — a mechanism that allows files to be classified by their level of “dangerousness”, such that harmless files (e.g. .txt files) can be downloaded freely, whilst potentially-dangerous files (e.g. .dll files) are subjected to a higher degree ofContinue reading “Download Blocking by File Type”
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”
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