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July 27th, 2020 × #Security#Accessibility#Browser

Hasty Treat - Target=_blank security issue? What's the deal with noopener and noreferrer?

Discussion on the security implications of links that open in a new tab or window, and browser fixes to prevent malicious sites from accessing the opener window

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In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about noopener and noreferrer and why you should use them with links that have blank targets.

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Show Notes

03:35 - What's the big deal?

  • If you have a link that is target="_blank" you should add rel="noopener" and rel="noreferrer"
  • Retail Me Not uses it
  • Valid use cases:
    • Same domain change the page from a popup
    • Cross domain changing page data
  • Example: https://mathiasbynens.github.io/rel-noopener/

05:39 - Why doesn't the browser just fix it?

10:48 - Does this hurt SEO?

  • It breaks analytics of the recipient site, turning a referral visit from your site into direct traffic, unless the link has UTM or similar tracking parameters. If you have a site where passing traffic offsite is part of the business model, links need an affiliate id instead.

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