IT administrators will soon have the power to block access to the source code of a web page for certain users of the best browsers in the world.
Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge will show the feature, which seeks to fix a long-standing bug in the Chromium source code that could allow users to view restricted URLs.
However, the change will not affect all users, but mainly devices purchased and owned by educational companies such as schools, colleges and universities.
Code block
The change, reported by 9to5Google, will also affect Chrome Enterprise users and seeks to address a long-standing issue that confuses educational users and administrators.
Users have long been able to view the source code of a web page by pressing CTRL + U or right-clicking anywhere on a page and selecting "View Page Source". While this can be useful for developers, code managers, or just the curious, reports have claimed that doing it on some educational quiz sites can sometimes reveal answers to tests, especially when using Google Forms.
Now Microsoft says it has come up with a solution that it says can shut down the option to view a page's source code if a particular website is on an organization's block list.
The solution can also block the ability to fully view the source code if you want, and when combined with a separate existing policy, it can also shut down the use of Chrome DevTools entirely.
The change will probably not be publicly visible for some time as it has just been added to the Chromium source code, but future versions of Edge and Chrome may introduce source code blocking features in future product release windows.
However, the feature is likely only present in highly controlled use cases, such as education, at this time.
The news could increase Microsoft Edge's user base in educational institutions, thereby increasing its growing market share. Recent data has shown that Edge is starting to establish an advantage over its big rival Firefox, with 3,99% of the market, which means that the share of browsers has increased by about a third from the same period last year.
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