Avast Secure Browser

Pros

• Stops Trojan cyberattacks
• Integrated banking support
• Onboard multimedia tools

Cons

• Extra security features may slow down browsing experience

Avast Secure Browser is a display program that's locked down so it should prove more secure than most Windows-based applications. The underlying engine is still based on Chromium, however, so it doesn't lack features that would normally have been compiled out of secured programs.

When you first start up Avast Secure Browser, you'll be presented with pretty much the same interface you'd have seen in nearly any other Chromium-based browser. That means you'll probably be able to use it with very little configuration. It supports all of the same keyboard shortcuts that are compiled into Chromium by default. If you've gotten used to these in another browser, then you won't have to spend a single moment reteaching yourself any of them. The same goes for the location of icons to click on as well as the general look and feel of the software.

What you will notice, however, is the addition of a large number of new features that aren't present in most other applications. An integrated version of EasyList and Adblock+ come bundled with the software, and you're free to create an acceptable ads subscription list if you'd prefer. Users can also switch something called Bank Mode on, which helps to reduce the risk of keyloggers and other types of Trojan horse programs from seizing control of a system when they're logged into a financial site. Though it automatically switches on whenever the browser detects that you're doing something related to finance, users are free to enable this mode whenever they'd prefer.

They also have access to the traditional incognito tools. While these won't stop ISP agents from learning more about what kind of traffic is passing through a network, they do prevent browsing history from being stored on disk.

While Avast's design team included the original password manager from Chromium, they also bundled a password suggestion system with it. This tool will suggest secure passwords when users create new accounts on sites or change existing login credentials.

Users who have an account with the remote Avast Passwords service can integrate it with their browser to sync all of their credentials in a single area. Other services designed to stop tracking, fingerprinting and phishing attacks are also all built into the software. All of these features can be controlled from something called the Security & Privacy Center, which is actually surprisingly easy to use.

Video download tools are actually built into the browser as well, perhaps in an effort to stop people from using sketchy browser extensions that could put them in harm's way. Users can download videos they're watching on certain sites and even extract the soundtrack of the video as an audio file. While Secure Browser isn't primarily designed as a multimedia tool, this might attract those who are interested in this aspect of the web. It makes it easy to convert countless online videos into a podcast you can then transfer to other devices and it also makes grabbing MP3 music a breeze.

Pros

• Stops Trojan cyberattacks
• Integrated banking support
• Onboard multimedia tools

Cons

• Extra security features may slow down browsing experience