Last Update: March 24, 2026 I’ve previously explained how Chromium-based browsers assign a “danger level” based on the type of the file, as determined from its extension. Depending on the Danger Level, the browser may warn the user before a file download begins in order to confirm that the user really wanted a potentially-dangerous file.Continue reading “SmartScreen Application Reputation, with Pictures”
Tag Archives: security
Enforcing SmartScreen with Policy
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen provides protection against the most common forms of attack: phishing and malware. SmartScreen support is built-in to Microsoft Edge and the Windows 8+ shell. The SmartScreen web service also powers the Microsoft Defender Browser Protection extension for Chromium-derived browsers. While SmartScreen provides powerful controls to block attacks, the user remains in fullContinue reading “Enforcing SmartScreen with Policy”
Improving the Microsoft Defender Browser Protection Extension
Earlier this year, I wrote about various extensions available to bolster your browser’s defenses against malicious sites. Today, let’s look at another such extension: the Microsoft Defender Browser Protection extension. I first helped out with extension back in 2018 when I was an engineer on the Chrome Security team, and this spring, I was taskedContinue reading “Improving the Microsoft Defender Browser Protection Extension”
New TLDs: Not Bad, Actually
The Top Level Domain (TLD) is the final label in a fully-qualified domain name: The most common TLD you’ll see is com, but you may be surprised to learn that there are 1479 registered TLDs today. This list can be subdivided into categories: Some TLD owners will rent domain names under the TLD to anyContinue reading “New TLDs: Not Bad, Actually”
Explainer: File Types
On all popular computing systems, all files, at their most basic, are a series of bits (0 or 1), organized into a stream of bytes, each of which uses 8 bits to encode any of 256 possible values. Regardless of the type of the file, you can use a hex editor to view (or modify)Continue reading “Explainer: File Types”
text/plain 