Obscuring sensitive information like AWS account IDs in screenshots and videos is tedious and error-prone. Even with video editing tools that simplify the process, I still have to repeatedly add and remove blurring boxes as the view changes.

You know what I mean, it generally looks something like this when redacted:

Fortunately, there's a simple solution for hiding the AWS account information in screenshots and videos. Ad blockers that use filter lists like AdBlock Plus can be configured with a custom rule to automatically remove the account ID span. Here is the AdBlock formatted rule that will hide the information.

[Adblock Plus 2.0]
! Version:
! Title: CustomList
! Last modified:
! Expires:
! Homepage:
!
console.aws.amazon.com##span[data-testid="awsc-nav-account-menu-button"]

Note: Instead of trying to manually configure this file or a rule, see the section below "Direct Sourcing by URL"

So it will now display like this:

The custom ad blocker rule obscures AWS account IDs in screenshots, but still allows easy access to view them when necessary. The account information drop-down arrow remains visible and clicking it reveals the account number, your current IAM user and all the regular links that are normally on this menu.

AdBlock Extensions - Disable "Acceptable Ads"

If you are using either the AdBlock or AdBlock Plus extension, you will likely need to disable the built-in list "Acceptable Ads" as discussed in this AdBlocks Support Solution. When I did not disable this list, the AWS Account information would continue to be visible.

Built In Ad Blocker in Vivaldi

I generally use Vivaldi which supports AdBlocker rules natively. Since it does not depend on third-party browser extensions to remove the AWS Account data display, it does not open one up to additional security implications of third-party extensions that have page-level access to your AWS console. It also is not configured with the "Acceptable Ads" list.

Direct Sourcing By URL

Most ad blockers can be configured with an import URL. If you would like to import this rule and any improvements to it in the future, you can import from this URL: https://gitlab.com/missionimpossiblecode/adblock-for-tutorials/-/raw/main/adblockconfig.txt

Here are the instructions for configuring filter lists for AdBlock.