Is there a way to safeguard a website from being harvested via the inspector? In theory, HTML, CSS, and JS data can all be obtained this way. How can one protect a site that is only hosted and not connected to the backend architecture in any way?

The question is intriguing and comparable to encryption technology used in HTTPS and API message signing protocols.

One can opt for encrypting the browser-downloadable code, which can then be decrypted in memory and executed. It's even possible to sign in asm.overtake js and run all functionalities through it.

Though it may deter copy-pasters by marking them, it won't entirely prevent the 1-5% from stealing the code if it's captivating enough. However, this group can utilize the code as a basis for developing their own masterpiece.

In conclusion, it's imperative to implement encryption technology because the principle is similar to that of SSL: while protection isn't 100%, the encryption key's complexity makes it difficult to crаck.

The inspector is referring to Chrome DevTools or similar tools available in other browsers, at least that's how I interpret it.

To be more precise, snipping WebSockets created through the Socket.IO is quite challenging in Chrome especially when they are added to the page via events. Additionally, when saving data to har, this information is not saved in the file.

One workaround is to parse the data by writing JavaScript to run in the Chrome DevTools console. However, not everyone is willing to go through such a tedious process.

There are a few techniques you can use to protect your website's HTML, CSS, and JS data from being easily obtained through the browser's inspector. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Minify and obfuscate your code: Minifying your code removes unnecessary characters, making it harder to understand. Obfuscation takes this a step further by renaming variables and functions to make the code more difficult to comprehend.

2. Enable server-side rendering: Rather than sending raw HTML, CSS, and JS files to the client, you can pre-render the content on the server and deliver it as static files. This way, the underlying code is not exposed to the client.

3. Implement content security policies (CSP): A CSP allows you to specify which resources (such as scripts and stylesheets) the browser is allowed to load, making it harder for an attacker to inject malicious scripts or intercept data.

4. Limit access to sensitive information: If there are portions of your site that contain sensitive data, consider implementing user authentication and authorization mechanisms to restrict access to authorized users only.

5. Use techniques like lazy loading: Instead of loading all resources at once, you can dynamically load them as needed. This technique can help deter scraping, as it becomes harder to obtain all the required resources on a single page.

more techniques you can consider to safeguard your website from being harvested via the inspector:

1. Implement rate limiting: By limiting the number of requests from a single IP address or user within a certain time frame, you can make it harder for automated scraping tools to gather large amounts of data.

2. Use CAPTCHAs: Incorporating CAPTCHAs (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) can help distinguish between human users and automated scripts. This can deter scrapers as they would need to solve the CAPTCHA challenges to proceed.

3. Employ anti-scraping services: There are third-party services available that specialize in detecting and preventing web scraping. These services use various techniques to identify and block scraping attempts, such as IP reputation analysis, pattern detection, and behavior monitoring.

4. Monitor and analyze traffic patterns: Keep an eye on your website's access logs and traffic patterns. Unusual spikes in traffic or repetitive access from the same IP addresses might indicate scraping activity. Monitoring and reacting to such patterns can help mitigate scraping attempts.

5. Use encrypted connections (HTTPS): By serving your website over HTTPS, you can ensure that the communication between the client and server is encrypted. This can make it harder for attackers to intercept and understand the exchanged data.

6. Employ anti-debugging techniques: It is possible to add code to your JavaScript files that detects if the browser's developer tools or inspector is open and take appropriate actions, such as obfuscating or disabling certain features.