New Update Guardio - Guard.io | Creating a Secure Digital World, for Everyone.

[Kongo]

Guardio is a lightweight extension designed to help you browse quickly and securely.​

It will clean your browser, speed it up, and protect your private information.​

Website: Experience a cleaner, safer web | Guardio

 

[Kongo]

I am pretty sure that some of you already know the extension. It is present in many YouTube partnerships. If there was a Firefox version I would have probably checked it out by now. Anybody used it in the past and can share his experiences?

 

[ForgottenSeer 97327]

@Kongo, have you used this on any browser?

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Spoiler: I have second thoughts

 

[Kongo]

@Kongo, have you used this on any browser?

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Spoiler: I have second thoughts

View attachment 271870

No I haven't but when there are multiple popular IT Security channels promoting it, I didn't really expect it to be a scam:

1.

2.

 

[mkoundo]

Hackers are using Google Ads for well-known apps to spread malware - gHacks Tech News

In many ways, ads are a frustrating part of the internet’s current primary business operating model. However, beyond the annoying pop-ups and the industrial-scale collection of your personal and private data, there […]

www.ghacks.net

 

[Arequire]

Spoiler: I have second thoughts

It's not a scam, insomuch as those outlets have all published articles featuring Guardio. Whether it's actually effective at what it does is another matter.

 

[CyberDevil]

I checked the extension on VirusTotal, Virscan, Polyswarm, Metadefender and Jotti, as here was some discussion that it might be something unreliable. No antivirus company in the world seems to think this extension is dangerous.
SHA-256: 026719533f3af2f052b632b79376df4a9578d0c69278c7156913f78668fb36cd

Too bad that there isn't a version for firefox.

 

[I Walk MY Way]

Why would any one pay for this ? the decent protections are all only in the premium version.
U block origin and adguard extension do the same for free.

Guardio just no ..​

 

[Kongo]

Why would any one pay for this ? the decent protections are all only in the premium version.
U block origin and adguard extension do the same for free.

Guardio just no ..​

Not really. If I understand correctly it also blocks malicious downloads instead of only blocking phishing and malicious sites.

 

[Divine_Barakah]

Not really. If I understand correctly it also blocks malicious downloads instead of only blocking phishing and malicious sites.

MBBH does the same, right? And it is free. Above all it is from a reputable company we can trust.

 

[Zero Knowledge]

It's not a scam, insomuch as those outlets have all published articles featuring Guardio. Whether it's actually effective at what it does is another matter.

Sounds like snake oil. Secure everything at no cost! Clean everything! What on earth could go wrong?

 

[Kongo]

MBBH does the same, right? And it is free. Above all it is from a reputable company we can trust.

You mean Malwarebytes Browser Guard? Then no. The only extension that does this as far as I know is the one from ZoneAlarm. And it was a mess.

 

[I Walk MY Way]

If you block the malicious sites. you don't have to worry about the downloads ?
So why are Guardio using this approach and charging for it ?

 

[Kongo]

If you block the malicious sites. you don't have to worry about the downloads ?
So why are Guardio using this approach and charging for it ?

If your AV's web protection blocks all the malicious sites, then your AV wouldn't have to integrate a behaviour blocker, AI and heuristics into their products either. But that's unfortunately not how it works.

 

[Divine_Barakah]

You mean Malwarebytes Browser Guard? Then no. The only extension that does this as far as I know is the one from ZoneAlarm. And it was a mess.

What does MBBG lack? Blocking malicious downloads?

 

[Kongo]

What does MBBG lack? Blocking malicious downloads?

I don't want to spread false information, but on their website Guardio states that they block malicious downloads. So it looks like the extension is actually able to scan the executable after downloading. Just like any browser does. Malwarebytes Browser Guard however can only block the malicious site where the malicious file is hosted on. It can't analyze and block the file itself.

 

[Zero Knowledge]

If you block the malicious sites. you don't have to worry about the downloads ?
So why are Guardio using this approach and charging for it ?

Because people are lazy and do stupid things like download cracks, warez and game mods. I'm sure it has its market, plenty of teenage kids out there.

But it's snake oil, they would just be working with a blacklist of known malicious hashes or MOTW to determine how fresh a file is and blocking it that way.

SmartScreen does this already, while competition is good, I doubt they have the resources or team to make this a better alternative. Prove me wrong!

 

[brambedkar59]

From FAQ on their website:

Guardio is an anti-malware program that removes existing malware from your device and prevents new malware infections.

I am confused now, I thought it was an extension. And AFAIK extensions don't have that much privilege to make such changes to the other programs installed.

 

[CyberDevil]

Hmm, can anyone confirm that the extension does not work in Opera? I always get the profile settings page open and even if I try to go directly to the scan page, I still get redirected to the profile page. I checked it in Opera and in Opera GX too. In Edge it works fine.

 

[ForgottenSeer 97327]

I don't want to spread false information, but on their website Guardio states that they block malicious downloads. So it looks like the extension is actually able to scan the executable after downloading. Just like any browser does. Malwarebytes Browser Guard however can only block the malicious site where the malicious file is hosted on. It can't analyze and block the file itself.

Long ago (XP-era) I used a heavily tweaked Interet Explorer for daily browsing (and Opera for downloads). IE could be prevented to download programs (and all risky file types). IE in default configuration had many risky features to facilitate corporate web-applications which could all be disabled to make it a safer browser. Also something I learned after purchasing Windows XP 64 bits on which browser containers did not work like Sandboxie, GesWall, DefenseWall, etc, so I had to improvise.

Why don't browser developers offer an easy safe mode in which risky features are disabled (e.g. many site permissions can be set to block/disable without any loss of functionality in Edge). Browsers nowadays offer profiles, so I have two profiles (one in which nearly everything is set to strict/block/disallow and one in default settings), but why don't the browsers themselves offer something similar (in stead of every security aware user discovering these hardened settings in a trial-and-error way).