Norton Safe Web is a free service which lets you know if the website you are about to browse is safe or not. If you’ve been reading the online news about computer threats, you know that the number of sites that don’t have your best interests at heart is constantly increasing. Phishing sites. Sites that want to install Trojans and other types of malware are coming online every day. So, how do you know if that brand new gaming site is safe, or if it’s run by some kids that are trying to steal your financial information? Norton Safe Web can help you navigate the web safely.
Norton Safe Web Is Web-Based
Norton Safe Web is a web application (webapp). This means there’s nothing to download or install, because everything is done on a website. So, that means no nasty little toolbars trying to be added, no sneaky changes to your default browser or search engine.
Enter a Web Address and See How Safe It Is-According to the Norton Community
This isn’t like your good quality antivirus program with a good heuristic approach to antivirus technology telling you whether or not the site who’s link you just clicked on is safe. This is mostly users of Norton products (notoriously terrible) writing reviews of the sites they’ve visited and had (or thought they had) troubles at. I use a quality antivirus with Internet security (read firewall, and then some) built in. It’s called ESET Smart Security, and has the ESET NOD32 antivirus engine built in. It gives me reliable information about sites I visit. Besides, I visit a number of sites regularly that most people wouldn’t consider safe, so I can keep on top of changing technologies. Of course, I also know how to isolate my system from trouble better than the average user. So what I would consider safe might cause serious troubles for someone else, especially if they’re using Norton products.
As an example, take a look at the screenshot above. Notice the website name, cracks.am. This is a site that will normally raise flags in most browsers with a good AV product like NOD32 installed. But, as you can see, Norton Safe Web says it’s fine to visit there. I wouldn’t go there without a very good AV and an even better reason to.
I went looking for some sites that I knew would be dangerous, worse than cracks.am, in fact. My ESET wouldn’t let the pages load. But Safe Web nonchalantly told me there was no problem with them. But hey, Norton security and safety products have never been very good. It hasn’t been their quality that made them popular. It’s the fact they come free with many new computers and are cheap to renew. But, some security sites have tested them in the past. Their AV engines catch approximately 80-85% of known viruses, sometimes as high as 90%. Pretty good huh? Not when you realize there’s over a million known viruses, as of today. ESET’s NOD32 catches 98-99%. Because of this, if I need to know how safe a website is, I’ll rely on a program and company I trust. And that’s not Norton.
