Microsoft Edge will begin blocking screenshots on the job

If you use the Microsoft Edge browser at work, your days of texting a screenshot of a web page to your spouse or coworker are nearly over. Microsoft is adding screenshot prevention controls to Edge.

It’s all designed to prevent you from sharing screenshots with competitors, relatives, and journalists using Microsoft Edge for Business. “Screenshot prevention policies will secure against data exfiltration in the browser by blocking the ability to take screenshots on pages labeled as sensitive or protected,” Microsoft said.

Specifically, IT managers at corporations will be able to tag web pages as protected, as defined in various Microsoft policy engines in Microsoft 365, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Microsoft Intune Mobile Application Management and Microsoft Purview, Microsoft said. The screenshot prevention feature will be available to customers in the “coming months,” Microsoft said. It’s also unclear whether third-party tools will be somehow blocked from taking screenshots or recording video, too.

Microsoft will also roll out a way to force Edge for Business users to automatically update their browsers. The feature will enter a preview phase over the next few weeks, Microsoft said.

“The Edge management service will enable IT admins to see which devices have Edge instances that are out of date and at risk,” Microsoft said. “It will also provide mitigating controls, such as forcing a browser restart to install updates, enabling automatic browser updates or enabling enhanced security mode for added protections.”

The latter initiative to force updates seems smart, given that there’s a real risk of zero-day attacks. Whether Microsoft is able to block screenshots being taken (as opposed to just snapped with a smartphone camera) remains to be seen.