User guide

4.3.2 Web access protection

Internet connectivity is a standard feature in a personal computer. Unfortunately, it has also become the main

medium for transferring malicious code. Web access protection works by monitoring communication between web

browsers and remote servers, and complies with HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and HTTPS (encrypted

communication) rules.

We strongly recommend that Web access protection is enabled. This option can be accessed from the main window

of ESET Smart Security by navigating to Setup > Web and email > Web access protection. Access to known web pages

with malicious content is always blocked.

4.3.2.1 HTTP, HTTPs

By default, ESET Smart Security is configured to use the standards of most Internet browsers. However, the HTTP

scanner setup options can be modified in Advanced setup (F5) > Web and email > Web access protection > HTTP,

HTTPS. In the main HTTP/HTTPS scanner window, you can select or deselect Enable HTTP checking. You can also

define the port numbers used for HTTP communication. By default, the port numbers 80 (HTTP), 8080 and 3128 (for

Proxy server) are predefined.

ESET Smart Security supports HTTPS protocol checking. HTTPS communication uses an encrypted channel to transfer

information between server and client. ESET Smart Security checks communications utilizing the SSL (Secure Socket

Layer), and TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption methods. HTTPS checking can be performed in the following

modes:

Do not use HTTPS protocol checking – Encrypted communication will not be checked.

Use HTTPS protocol checking for selected ports – The program will only check those applications that are specified in

the Web and email clients section and that use ports defined in Ports used by HTTPS protocol. Port 443 is set by

default.

Encrypted communication will be not scanned. To enable the scanning of encrypted communication and view the

scanner setup, navigate to SSL protocol checking in Advanced setup section, click Web and email > Protocol filtering

> SSL and enable the Always scan SSL protocol option.