Secure Surfing Online Made Easy

Created by Cybersecurity Support, Modified on Fri, 12 Aug 2022 at 09:12 AM by Cybersecurity Support

Today, browsing the internet not only makes communication and access to knowledge easier but it also increases the chance to encounter online dangers as well. A few of these dangers involve scams disguised as legitimate-looking emails or attachments, fake websites or pop-up ads that downloads malicious software (also known as malware) to your computer which could steal or corrupt data or worse infects the computer to monitor the user's location or actions.


It has become a necessity to have a paid 'antivirus' program installed, a marketing term for an endpoint security program which not only protects the computer from viruses but other more recent malware in real-time. Free antivirus programs are only helpful in defending known malicious software or attacks but are not effective in dealing with very recent created malwares. 


Sometimes however the convenience of having a paid security software program isn't possible. Here are 5 free tools to help minimize dangers from the internet while surfing online.


1) Temp-Mail


Temp-mail (https://tempmail.email/) gives you a temporary email and inbox to help you sign up to various websites and avoid all the spam down the line. This helps you avoid unnecessary interaction with messages that are misleading, scams or advertising posts with the websites that you have registered to.


2) Netcraft

Netcraft (https://www.netcraft.com/apps/browser/#download) is a browser extension that informs the user if a website has malicious content, blocks fake websites, disable cryptocurrency miners and helps identify suspicious websites. This browser extension is available in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera.


3) Malwarebytes Browser Guard

Malwarebytes Browser Guard (https://www.malwarebytes.com/browserguard) is another free browser extension that blocks unwanted ads and trackers that intrude upon users’ privacy, while also protecting against click-bait and scams. This is compatible with Netcraft and is available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari browsers.


4) VirusTotal

VirusTotal (https://www.virustotal.com) aggregates many security vendors scanning services and is useful for scanning files and website links to detect possible malware. This is a great substitute when a paid antivirus isn't found in the computer and has lesser known browser extensions in most known browsers as well as an Android app.  


5) Internet.nl

Internet.nl is a Dutch Internet Standards Platform where its aim is to jointly increase the use of modern Internet standards to make the Internet more accessible, safer and more reliable for everyone. This tool helps in scanning websites, email services and internet connections and identifies standards and configurations that are outdated and gives recommendations on how to update settings and standards on these different services. In layman's term, this tool identifies weaknesses in the website or email service which could inform the user whether to trust the scanned service or not.


Secure online surfing may be more time consuming than not minding security at all but with these 5 free tools it could make safe online browsing easier and more convenient knowing that you have safeguards while casually browsing or downloading files. Hope this helps you.

Was this article helpful?

That’s Great!

Thank you for your feedback

Sorry! We couldn't be helpful

Thank you for your feedback

Let us know how can we improve this article!

Select atleast one of the reasons

Feedback sent

We appreciate your effort and will try to fix the article