360 Secure Browser (360 Security Browser) or 360 Safe Browser () is a

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

developed by the

Qihoo Qihoo 360 (; approximate pronunciation CHEE-hoo), full name 360 Security Technology Inc., is a Chinese internet security company that has developed the antivirus software programs 360 Safeguard and 360 Mobile Safe, the Web browser 360 Secure Brows ...

company of Beijing, China. It was first released in September 2008. The browser by default renders the webpage using the

WebKit WebKit is a browser engine developed by Apple and primarily used in its Safari web browser, as well as on the iOS and iPadOS version of any web browser. WebKit is also used by the BlackBerry Browser, PlayStation consoles beginning from the PS ...

-based engine adapted for

Google Chrome Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS ...

Blink Blinking is a bodily function; it is a semi-autonomic rapid closing of the eyelid. A single blink is determined by the forceful closing of the eyelid or inactivation of the levator palpebrae superioris and the activation of the palpebral portio ...

, and when running in

compatibility mode A compatibility mode is a software mechanism in which a software either emulates an older version of software, or mimics another operating system in order to allow older or incompatible software or files to remain compatible with the computer's n ...

, it renders webpages using the

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

engine found in

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Microsoft Wind ...

World version

In early 2014 Qihoo released a global version of its web browser.

360 (Speed) Extreme Browser (Explorer) version

Besides ''360 Secure Browser'', there is another version titled ''360 Extreme Browser'' (''360 Extreme Explorer'').

Market share

In January 2011, Qihoo claimed that it was the second most popular web browser in China (after

), with 172 million

monthly active users Active users is a measurement metric that is commonly used to measure the level of engagement for a particular product or object, by quantifying the number of active interactions from visitors within a relevant range of time (daily, weekly and m ...

, 44.1% of Internet users in China. Independent sources claim that the true figure is between 2-7%. In November 2014 StatCounter reported that the Qihoo browser was the 5th most popular browser in the United States. Its main competitors in China are the Sogou High-Speed Browser () by

Sogou Sogou, Inc. () is a Chinese technology company that offers a search engine. It is a subsidiary of Tencent. The offices of Sogou are located on the southeast corner of Tsinghua University in Beijing. Sogou also has offices in Chengdu co-locate ...

, CM Browser () by

Cheetah Mobile Cheetah Mobile Inc () is a Chinese mobile Internet company headquartered in Beijing. , it has more than 634 million monthly active users. History Formation Chen Rui ( :zh:陳睿 current CEO of Bilibili) founded Cheetah Mobile. The company ...

, QQ Browser () by

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...

, Baidu Browser () by

Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the la ...

and

Maxthon Maxthon (, formerly named ''MyIE2'') is a freeware web browser, created by JeffChen in Singapore. It is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and as ''Maxthon Mobile'' for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 8. Since version 6 Maxthon is based on Chr ...

. , the latest versions of 360 Secure Browser do not offer a distinguishable

user-agent In computing, a user agent is any software, acting on behalf of a user, which "retrieves, renders and facilitates end-user interaction with Web content". A user agent is therefore a special kind of software agent. Some prominent examples of us ...

string. It spoofs itself either as

, making it difficult for developers to target or identify.

Controversies

In 2012, a whistleblower reported a hidden backdoor in 360 Secure Browser. The Product Director of 360 Secure Browser, Tao Weihua, responded that "Whoever has a mind to beat a dog will always be able to find a stick" and accused the whistleblower of "smearing 360 on behalf of Baidu", which the whistleblower said was "the worst professional response in history". Independent analysis of the claim showed that the browser has an "undeclared mechanism (i.e., via ExtSmartWiz.dll) which connects to the server on a regular basis (e.g., every 5 minutes), and allows it to download files of any type (including executables) from the server." This and other controversies surrounding Qihoo eventually led to the temporary pulling of their products from the

iOS App Store The App Store is an app store platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS Software Deve ...

. High usage numbers may be due to the browser being difficult to uninstall, its parent product 360 Safeguard frequently recommending it and a warning pop-up that appears when a user attempts to install another browser, claiming that the other browser is unsafe and should not be run.

References

External links