Is there any web page that is legitimate and scans your browser to asses if it is OK? I noticed that i can install a browser via Microsoft store and i don’t need administrative rights to do so. Which made me suspicious of it.
Might be due to your user account settings. But if you’re downloading from an official Microsoft store it’s probably okay. You could also utilize the “winget” command in the command line to install from the pkg manager.
3 Likes
In terms of what?
You can post the link to that browser here. I am sure, someone with Windows can tell you more about it.
I used to use EFF’s tools:
and
There are probably more (not from EFF) such as
what specifically do you want to test?
1 Like
From reading this I feel you are asking if the browser software itself is safe or not since you downloaded it from Microsoft store and it didn’t ask for admin permissions, right?
If that’s the question then yes, if it was from the Microsoft store, it’s safe. Microsoft store applications are vetted, and usually don’t need admin right to install since it’s the first party store, and are often covered with UWP to prevent malicious access sometimes covered with UWP if the developer marks it as such. Should be fine if you trust the developer.
I’m pretty sure its the opposite. It is a wasteland of bad programs. There are paid apps in there with the same name that can be installed for free but buried deep within the control panel.
that feature requires to be set by the app developer. If I am a malicious app developer, I am not going to do that.
2 Likes
It could be bad vetting, but they definitely run automated tests and virus hash checks on applications, same as Play store and other application stores. (Source)
Edit: It seems @HauntSanctuary is correct.
Previous response
Afaik they are sandboxed by default. This is part of the reason for recommending S-mode which only allows installs from Microsoft store. (Source)
Quote:
All Windows Store apps are tightly sandboxed. This means Windows Store apps run in their own virtual space (the sandbox) and whatever happens to it does not affect any other app running or the OS itself. It should be practically impossible for a Windows Store App to crash the entire computer, it may still crash itself but it won’t be able to hurt anything else. Being in the Sandbox also means the app has no direct access to any other app or service running outside of the app’s sandbox. Access to other apps or services is facilitated by Windows itself with a defined set of APIs with in the runtime environment.
Many are not sandboxed and being on the Microsoft store does not suffice for being able to be used in S-mode. Maybe it used to be different in the past, but it’s not true anymore for quite a few years.
4 Likes
Ah, it seems they changed it 3 years ago (probably). Seems unfortunate, will edit my response appropriately.
Are the apps vetted still or are there no checks at all into Windows store? I don’t usually work with Windows so it could be I’m out of loop there too.
https://www.deviceinfo.me/ shows a lot of “stuff”.
Regardless of whether it’s vetted or not, it could still contain malware, just like the app store or play store
Check the browser’s official homepage to see, if they link to this MS Store program. Only use it in case it is official or from Microsoft themselves. Also stick to popular browsers with good reputation, which have been in the market for quite a few years. Do not use any niche or new browsers. Aside from that, I wouldn’t bet my security on Microsoft Store’s vetting.
I use winget to install apps and update them. Its included with Win11 and can be installed on Win10. They either get from official GitHub or official website.
I think that way you can reasonably say its fine until the app dev themselves become rogue.
Privacytests browsing testing feature is also great for this, but the OP seems to be asking about detecting malware or a keylogger, so no site would really be able to help with that