Private browsing, click-to-run and private searching can be implemented in any Web browser, but Aviator has other complex security and privacy features that set it apart. This can create a "filter bubble" in which a user sees the same types of links recur, instead of a more diverse selection. Google and most other search engines create user profiles and use them to tailor search results. MORE: Top 10 Apps for Remembering Your PasswordsĪviator's default search engine is DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine that does not profile users or collect their IP addresses. Your search history will be deleted when you close your browser, and URLs will not autocomplete in the search bar. If Web pages viewed with Aviator look sparser than usual, it's because the ads that usually crowd every blank space of a browser window are gone.Īviator opens by default in Incognito, or private browsing, mode.
Only the files you permit to run will do so. In Aviator, you have to click to activate every piece of Flash on a Web page.
Malicious code can also automatically run if you end up on the wrong page. Click on a YouTube URL, and the video immediately starts playing. Most browsers let media files, such as Adobe Flash Player files, automatically play by default.
What does Aviator do?īy stripping away ads and disabling autoplaying of media files, Aviator cuts off two main avenues for malware infection. "This democratizes security and privacy for the masses," Hansen said. Similar features can be activated on other browsers, but most users won't know how.Īviator's developers believe maximizing privacy settings by default gives users a distinct advantage. Features such as "Do Not Track," private browsing and ad blockers are enabled by default. Hansen said Aviator puts the consumer's needs first. Some websites may identify Aviator as "Chrome" in the permissions settings. WhiteHat originally developed Aviator as an in-house browser based on Chromium, the open-source underpinnings of Google's Chrome browser. "It doesn't fit with what the consumer actually wants, which is a private browser." "From our perspective, that's kind of anti-consumer," said Robert Hansen, WhiteHat's director of product management.
However, WhiteHat believes that because those browsers make money through relationships with search engines such as Google and Bing, they're not designed to benefit the end user. Aviator is a Web browser like Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.