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![]() 360 Secure Browser on Windows 11 | |
Developer(s) | Qihoo 360 |
---|---|
Initial release | September 2008 |
Stable release(s) | |
13.1.5101.0[1]
/ December 27, 2021 | |
Preview release(s) | |
Engine | Blink, Trident |
Operating system | Windows, Mac OS X Android, iOS |
Type | Web browser |
Website |
360 Secure Browser (360 Security Browser) or 360 Safe Browser[8] (Chinese: 360安全浏览器) is a web browser developed by the Qihoo company of Beijing, China.[9][10] It was first released in September 2008.[9]
The browser by default renders the webpage using the WebKit-based engine adapted for Google Chrome, Blink, and when running in compatibility mode, it renders webpages using the Trident engine found in Internet Explorer.[11][12]
In early 2014 Qihoo released a global version of its web browser.[citation needed]
Besides 360 Secure Browser, there is another version titled 360 Extreme Browser (360 Extreme Explorer).[13][14][15][16]
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."[20]
This and other controversies surrounding Qihoo eventually led to the temporary pulling of their products from the iOS App Store.[21]
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.[22][23]