Web Filter - Online Armor Firewall Software

Web Shield

What is the Web Shield?

Many websites use tricks to install dangerous software on your computer. The type of software can range from the irritating display of popup advertising, through to software designed to steal information or defraud you.

Online Armor inspects every page you visit and checks to see if any dangerous objects are present. If they are, you are alerted and have the opportunity to block them. Online Armor's Web Shield works with any web browser on your computer including those embedded in other programs such as ICQ.

Why is Web Shield important?

The Web Shield part of Online Armor is important because aside from email, one main way that undesirable programs can get onto your computer is through your web browser. The Mail Shield and Web Shield act as the "first line of defense" to stop this from happening... if you don't download a bad program, you won't accidentally run it.

How does Web Shield work?

Every site you visit passes through Online Armor's Web Shield component. It doesn't matter which program you use to surf the net. Online Armor inspects these pages to see if they contain dangerous or undesirable content - the rules are applied depending on how the site is categorised. The site can be categorised as one of the following:

  • Blocked sites are completely prevented from being accessed.
  • Untrusted sites are not allowed to use any potentially dangerous objects
  • Trusted sites are allowed to use any object since they are marked safe
  • Protected sites are Online Banking or financial sites.
  • Unknown sites are not yet classified. You will be asked if objects are detected.

For example, one way a virus can get on to your computer is through an ActiveX object. Online Armor classifies ActiveX objects as "Potentially Dangerous Content".

When Online Armor finds potentially dangerous content on a web page, it will act depending on the category in which you have placed each site. A trusted site will be allowed (no prompting) to display the control. An untrusted site will not be allowed to use it and an "unknown" site will ask you what you want to do.