We have previously discussed in a blog on the security community what MaaS360 can do to remove TikTok from devices and prevent its usage, but that centered on the TikTok application.
But how can we prevent a person from accessing www.tiktok.com on a Windows device using any browser?
Individual browser blocklist configuration values or registry entries can prevent access but that’s a lot of work. We can’t even depend on those configuration variables because someone may have a different browser that we may not have known about.
We need to look at blocking at a macro level.
A straightforward way to make this happens is to update the host file on your Windows machine.
Process
Here are the steps:
1. Open NotePad as an Administrator
2. Open File Explorer
3. go to: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
4. Edit the host file using Notepad
5. Add 2 lines at the bottom of the file:
a. 127.0.0.1 www.tiktok.com
b. 127.0.0.1 tiktok.com
6. Replace the host file
The TikTok URL will no long be accessible from a Windows based Browser
Example host file
# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
127.0.0.1 tiktok.com
127.0.0.1 www.tiktok.com
Results
Firefox
Chrome
Edge
You can always use MaaS360 to push this file out from the Application Catalog.