Real purpose of SafeZone browser and it's Pay Mode?

[REDACTED]

I would like to ask about Avast Free with the new addition of the previously paid-only SafeZone browser and it's Pay Mode.

Disclaimer: If you are not convinced about my findings, please take the following with a grain of salt, or test this for yourself. Both simulations tools mentioned are harmless to your PC and developed by trusted vendors; Zemana and SpyShelter. Also: I have read the FAQ regarding SafeZone for Avast (https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB209#idt_010).

I understand that Pay Mode is intended to protects user session's against threats, loggers (and other things), in which I have briefly tested using simulation tools by Zemana and SpyShelter. The good news is that I encountered no problems whilst in Pay Mode. However, the browser itself isn't much use after that. What I mean is, I found that as soon as I left the Pay Mode (tab) to a non-protected tab in SafeZone, the clipboard data was revealed/exposed, likewise for the screen capture logger.

That left me wondering, what is the point of SafeZone browser without Pay mode... just a standard browser with avast built-in browser extensions.

I would appreciate any input. Thank you.

Edit: Corrections.

[REDACTED]

good Q...

[REDACTED]

That is a good question, I will follow up on this thread.

- Best Regards bilbodog

[REDACTED]

This is a good question - I hope it gets the attention it deserves.

I spent a long time trying to get answers concerning what exactly the "online security" tab (enabled or disabled via the three vertical dots, right hand side of SZ) provided over and above the realtime security from the base level of the pro avast (without any SZ).

I'm still not entirely sure, but I was assured by avast that the base level realtime  security of avast is not compromised by disabling the "online security" tab in the SZ. Which kind of begs the question of why users should be offered the opportunity to disable it in the first place if the real time security of the base level is not affected by any such action.

I actually think it is a bit of window dressing to make SZ look good, it doesn't bother me because my only use of SZ is the "pay mode". Rightly or wrongly, I do feel more secure using that mode when accessing my bank account, and this seems to be justified by the comment made by the OP regarding paymode.

So I would really like to know what others think about the rest of SZ in relation to the OP question.

[REDACTED]

I have no problems with the built-in SZ avast extensions, but more to the point that the SZ browser isn't protected unless the user is in Pay Mode.

(Outside of Pay mode the built-in extensions can be downloaded from Chrome Web Store, via Avast Free Antivirus or 3rd party alternates).

I haven't heard anything from Avast (yet), but thanks for those who have.

[Vlk]

Thanks for asking, good question.

Pay Mode is one of the cool features of SafeZone, and really the original idea behind SafeZone if you ask me. It provides a pretty bullet-proof insulation of everything that's happening in the Pay Mode tab, both from local eavesdroppers (e.g. keyloggers, screen-scrapers etc) as well as network-level eavesdroppers (DNS hijackers etc).

But, SafeZone comes with top security features even outside of the Pay Mode tabs. The security and anti-phishing plugin is baked in (instead of being supplied by means of a browser extension), and supports for inspection of all traffic (including encrypted / HTTPS traffic etc).

The general motivation behind SafeZone is the following: all browsers in general make it increasingly more difficult for security software to interact with them. Low-level extensions, Javascript scanning, HTTPS scanning, shielding of individual sessions -- all of this is becoming pretty much impossible to do in a 3rd party browser, as the browser landscape evolves. You can clearly see the trend -- which is, for the most part, dictated by Chrome, but the other major browser vendors follow the suit.

Now, to give people more reasons to try and use SafeZone, we have added a couple of more mainstream features into it as well, such as ad-blocking and the ability to save streaming videos. Of course, these are not security features per se, but they make the browser run snappier and provide more convenience. Our ultimate goal is to make SafeZone as comfortable to use (if not more) than the current browser you are using today, and keep adding more security features on top of it as we go. That's because we realize that in the long run, it will be more and more difficult to provide added security to 3rd party browsers, at least in an official / documented fashion.

Hope this helps,
Vlk

[REDACTED]

Thanks for giving that good reply to a good OP question.

[REDACTED]

Thank you for the reply, I appreciate the extra information regarding SafeZone browser.

"Our ultimate goal is to make SafeZone as comfortable to use (if not more) than the current browser you are using today, and keep adding more security features on top of it as we go."

Am I understanding you correctly, that to make SZ browser a comfortable browser, it operates similar to a normal browser with baked in security features, but Pay Mode adds the additional layers for more sensitive transactions.

Quick question, would it be more secure for the user if all sessions are protected, just as Pay Mode is currently is?

Thank you once again.

[stibi]

interesting question, Huracan