In order to rate websites, Norton Safe Search uses a technology called Norton Safe Web, which performs thorough analysis using signature-based file scanning, intrusion detection engines, behavioral detection, and install/uninstall analysis to identify security risks such as phishing sites, malicious downloads, browser exploits and links to unsafe external sites.Norton Safe Web benefits from a network of more than 20 million Norton Community Watch end-points that automatically submit in real-time suspicious URLs to the Norton Safe Web server for detailed analysis. This allows Norton Safe Web to quickly hone in on newly infected sites.In addition to analyzing suspicious sites submitted by Norton end-points, Norton Safe Web also actively crawls the Web and performs thorough analysis on millions of Web sites.
Norton is no doubt one of the biggest names among antivirus software out there alongside McAfee and Kaspersky. The first version of Norton released sometime in 1991 and has continued to be updated throughout the years. The most recent version, Norton Security Suite 2018, came packed with a few extra goodies as well as some chrome extensions for use with your preferred browser. In this article, I will go over these extensions and provide details on what they do and as well as a few of my thoughts on each.Keep in mind that to use all of the provided extensions, you will need to have purchased Norton Antivirus and installed it onto your PC (or Mac). The extensions themselves are free, however.The Norton Extensions & Toolbar.
Norton Safe Web for Microsoft Edge. All this extension does it check if the website that you are browsing on Microsoft Edge if it is malicious or not. Norton has a huge database of exploits. -We have teamed up with Norton from Symantec to teach you about internet security.
Quick Links.After purchasing Symantec Norton Suite for your PC (or Mac), you’ll need to install it. You will also need to create an account on the in order to activate your copy of the antivirus program. Norton provides extensions for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome browsers.To install the extensions:. Upon installing Norton for the first time, your browser will launch a new session, opening up to feature the Browser Protection page in a new window. You also have the ability to launch the Browser Protection page directly from the Online Safety pillar by clicking on the Set Up Now option. While on the Browser Protection page, look for “Norton Safe Web” and click the Add option.
A pop-up will appear with an Add Extension button. Click it. Once Norton Safe Web is enabled, you can then too enable the Norton Safe Search, Norton Home Page and Norton Password Manager extensions for your browser. Just click the Add option and follow the provided on-screen instructions. If you wish to add them all at once, there is also an Add All Norton Extensions for Free button you can click instead. If you choose not to add any of the extensions within 7 days, you’ll receive a “Chrome Protection Removed” alert notification when launching Google Chrome. The same can be said if you forego adding the Norton Safe Web extension.
After choosing which (or all) of the extensions you’d like to add, click the Install Now button and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. You can always add the extensions at a later time.
To do so, click the “Remind Me Later” option if you wish to be reminded or “Do not ask me again” if you’d rather not be bothered.The extensions are not mandatory to enjoy Norton Antivirus Suite. However, if you wish to easily access all of the browser-specific features that Norton Security offers, you will need to enable each extension. Here is a rundown and review on all of the extensions offered.Norton Safe WebSearch, surf, and shop safely online with the Norton Safe Web extension. It will analyze all visited websites to detect any viruses, spyware, malware, or other threats lurking within the pages.
Once a page has been analyzed, Norton Safe Web provides a safety rating for each of the websites, prior to your next visit.Using Google, Yahoo, or Bing while searching for specific pages or sites on the internet, you’ll see a Norton rating icon beside each search result. Hovering the mouse cursor over one of these Norton icons will display a pop-up with information on the site and how safe it deems the shopping experience.Take it a step further and click the icon to receive a full report pop-up window that allows you to view a detailed report directly on the Norton Safe website. You can also click on the Full Report option to receive the same detailed report.Every website analyzed contains a detailed site safety status report. What these reports allow the user to do is:.View both the Norton and community rating for the site.View other user reviews or add your own.Take a look at a list of tagged keywords attached to the website.Read over the general information about the website as well as information on any potential threat visiting the website may pose.Norton Safe Web uses 5 website safety ratings to determine the threat level of the site prior to your visit. These ratings are:.Secure (indicated by a Norton Secured icon) – Symantec analysis determined that the website is VeriSign trusted and is safe to visit.Safe (indicated by a green ‘OK’ icon) – Norton Safe Web analysis determined that the site is safe to visit.Untested (indicated by a gray question mark ‘?’ icon) – Norton Safe Web does not have enough data to analyze the site; it is recommended that you do not visit this site.Unsafe (indicated by a red cross ‘x’ icon) – Norton Safe Web analysis determined that the site is unsafe to visit. This website may attempt to install malicious software on your computer.Caution (indicated by an orange exclamation mark ‘!’ icon) – Norton Safe Web analysis determined that this site has some threats that are classified as Annoyance Factors. The site is not dangerous, but it can install unwanted applications on your computer without your permission.ThoughtsNorton Safe Web hasn’t presented me with any issues during my limited use of its features.
It seems to do as it claims, though in other reviews I have heard it mentioned often that some websites deemed “Unsafe” are incorrectly rated. If a site doesn’t have the HTTPS (as opposed to sans ‘S’) it analyzes it in a negative light. This can get a bit annoying if you run a few sites and have users complaining that they get a Norton warning when they try to visit.I know that Norton provides users with a way to report issues like these through the Report Issue option that will be located on the blocked website page. You can use this option if you feel that the website should be considered legitimate and you’d like to report it in an attempt to have the evaluation corrected. You can also choose to ignore the warning/rating and click “Continue to site” to view the webpage.Norton Safe Web also uses Scam Insight. It’s a feature that provides reputation ratings for every website on the Internet. All provided ratings are based on information gathered from the age of a site (how long the site has been up) and the millions of Norton customers who have visited or reported them.Norton Safe SearchEnhance your web search experience with Norton Safe Search.
Norton Safe Search uses Ask.com to generate the search result for you and provides a site safety status for each result. Using Norton Safe Search, you can expect a safety rating similar to that of Norton Safe Web.Like most search engines, Norton Safe Search features search-as-you-type automation to display suggestions and provide a more efficient experience. Simply type in a few words and Norton Safe Search will attempt to complete your phrase.Using Norton Safe Search is easy:. Open your browser of choice (Chrome preferred). The Norton Safe Search box will appear in the (ugly) Norton toolbar. Type in the search string that you wish and either click Safe Search or select one of the suggestions it provides.ThoughtsNothing too impressive with this extension.
Just a standard search box with the presumed appearance of safety. I haven’t noticed a real need for this feature whatsoever. I suppose it’s meant to provide peace of mind or just something added onto the total Norton package to make it seem more appealing for purchase.Norton Home PageNorton Homepage turns your homepage into a Norton one using Norton Safe Search to enhance your web search experience. You can find site safety status and Norton rating information for every search result generated directly on the page.This also changes your new tabs from the default version to Norton protected ones.