Is Browsing Protection by WithSecure safe?
Browsing Protection by WithSecure forwards every visited URL and all open tab URLs to a locally-installed WithSecure application via native messaging.
On each main-frame navigation, the extension sends the visited URL and its referrer to the WithSecure native messaging host ('app.withsecure_chrome_https') for real-time reputation scanning. At startup, it also enumerates all currently open tabs and sends their URLs to the same local host as part of an initialization message. Data does not leave the local machine via the extension itself — it is handed off to the locally-installed WithSecure security product.
Who publishes itWithSecure - no other listings under this identity, 1 shared hostname
WithSecure - no other listings under this identity, 1 shared hostname
What this publisher told the store about itself, and the other listings that told it the same thing.
Shared hosts - 1 hostname
Hostnames hardcoded in this extension that few other listings call. That can mean one operator behind both, and it can equally mean a small shared vendor, so it is context rather than a conclusion. Hosts that many listings call are left out: they are services, not connections.
AI-generated. Findings may contain errors. Those marked Verified have been manually reviewed.
Publishers can request a review.
What it can do
Permissions this extension asks for, as declared in version 5.0.74. Asking for a permission is not a finding on its own - it is what the extension can do if it chooses to.
Read and change your data on every site you visit
http://*/*
Read and change your data on every secure site you visit
https://*/*
See the address and title of every tab you have open
tabs
Talk to a program installed on your computer, outside the browser's sandbox
nativeMessaging
See every page you navigate to, as you navigate to it
webNavigation
Block and redirect the requests your browser makes
declarativeNetRequest
Store data in your browser
storage
Watch every request your browser makes
webRequest
Where it sends data
Destinations our analysis observed WithSecure Browsing Protection contacting. Sending data somewhere is not a finding on its own - an extension that syncs your settings has to talk to its own server - but it is where your data can go, and who else it goes to.
- app.withsecure_chrome_https (local native messaging host)
WithSecure Browsing Protection sends data to app.withsecure_chrome_https (local native messaging host). Named as a recipient in this extension's own analysis.