Avast WEBforum

Consumer Products => Avast Online Security (browser extension) => Topic started by: ceeohtwo on November 10, 2019, 07:34:13 AM

Title: How reliable is the browser extension rating system?
Post by: ceeohtwo on November 10, 2019, 07:34:13 AM

Hi there.

How reliable is the Avast browser extension rating and classification system? Are sites given the all-clear subsequently monitored once they are given a "This site is safe!" mark? Are any sites ever rechecked and downgraded? How are standards enforced?

I just tested Avast's own site avast.com (https://webhint.io/scanner/094a7612-5f1b-42db-b6c8-0330a23d2f4e) against the criteria they judge other sites by and it failed. See the results here: https://webhint.io/scanner/094a7612-5f1b-42db-b6c8-0330a23d2f4e (https://webhint.io/scanner/094a7612-5f1b-42db-b6c8-0330a23d2f4e). Polonus, an Avast web evangelist in the forum post at https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=220309.0, referred a user to test his site's safe mark suitability using Webhint.

I used Webhint on Avast and discovered it falls very short of its own standards. It gets zero for PWA, Performance, Pitfalls and Security. It only gets seven out of 14 for Availability and just one out of 10 for compatibility. Overall, it has 131 hints. Any other website with so many would be immediately rejected.

Obviously, Avast is not a malicious site but I used it as an example because it is enforcing standards on other sites therefore it is only right that it should uphold its own standards.

Is a site monitored after receiving the safe mark? If not, why not?

Title: Re: How reliable is the browser extension rating system?
Post by: MartinZ on November 11, 2019, 08:59:19 AM

Hi, yes the sites are monitored continuously. We just don't go that much to detail and mark sites that either contains malware, phishing or users rated them as untrustworthy.