BrowserProtect

BrowserProtect is a free security tool that protects your web browsers against exploits, hijacks and unwanted changes.

It’s a reliable browser anti-hijack solution that will prevent browser settings like the home page or the search engines from being changed without your permission.

BrowserProtect is pretty simple, neat and effective, though I discovered a lot of glitches in its functioning. For example, the results of the scanning process are displayed at rather random times and not immediately after the scanning is over. The window presenting the detected hijacks will keep popping every time you try to access the program, replacing its default main interface, until you select an action (blocking or confirming) to be applied. Furthermore, the fact that the program doesn’t have a “Close” button is really annoying in my opinion. I understand the fact that it is a security program that needs to be running all the time in order to timely detect any browser hijack, but the lack of a “Close” option is simply unacceptable. Even antiviruses can be stopped and closed whenever the users desire. On the other hand, it’s lightweight and it can run unobtrusively minimized to the tray area.

It supports all the 3 most popular web browsers in the world: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. The fact that it doesn’t support Opera or Safari is a bit of a downside, as these browsers have considerable user shares as well and can also have their settings hijacked. On the other hand, the fact that it offers some basic settings is a nice touch. Being able to choose what types of hijacks you want it to monitor and for which browsers is a handy feature in my opinion, which I really appreciate. Moreover, it allows setting up lists of toolbars, extensions, homepages and search engines that will be excluded from being considered as potential hijack sources.

In an end note, if you can ignore its many drawbacks, this tool can represent a decent choice to protect the settings of your browser from being changed without your wish. Anyway, it comes with too many glitches to be one of my favorites.