Purpose: Actively Testing Your First Line of Defense Against Online Threats

The biggest security threats to our company often start with a single click on a malicious link in an email or on a website. To ensure you are protected, this health check actively tests if your computer’s built-in security is working correctly to block you from accessing these dangerous sites.

This is not a passive scan; it’s a live fire drill for your web security to confirm it protects you from phishing attacks and malware.

How it Works: A Safe Trip to a “Bad” Neighborhood

Think of your computer’s web protection (Microsoft Defender SmartScreen) as a digital security guard. Its job is to stop you from entering known dangerous locations online.

To test if your guard is awake and on duty, we do the following:

1. We instruct your computer to visit a completely harmless test website that our security systems are programmed to recognize as “bad.” (The address is literally internetbadguys.com).
2. We then watch to see what happens.
   • If your security is working, the guard steps in and blocks the connection. You’ll see an error message or a warning page stating the site is unsafe. This is a successful test.
   • If your security is not working, you will successfully connect to the harmless test page. This shows the guard is not doing its job, leaving you vulnerable to real threats.

What Your Results Mean

This is one of our most critical security checks. Your result determines if you are actively protected from online scams.

Status	What It Means	What To Do
Protected(Pass)	Your web protection is active and working. Your computer correctly identified and blocked the test site, proving it will protect you from known phishing and malware links.	No action is required. Your digital security guard is on duty.
Action Required(Warning)	Your web protection is not working. Your computer failed to block the test site. This is a significant security risk, as you are not being protected from malicious links.	This is a critical security issue. Please contact the IT Help Desk immediately. This cannot be ignored, as it leaves you and the company vulnerable to attack.
Test Inconclusive(Fail)	The test could not be completed. We were unable to determine the status of your web protection, most likely due to a network issue (e.g., you were not connected to the internet).	Please take the following steps: 1. Ensure you are connected to the internet. 2. Restart your computer and allow the health check to run again. 3. If you still see this result, contact the IT Help Desk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did you actually make my computer visit a dangerous website?

• No. We use a special, harmless website owned by industry security experts specifically for this kind of testing. It contains no malicious code whatsoever.

My web browser seems to be working fine. Why did I get an “Action Required” warning?

• Web protection can fail silently. You won’t know it’s disabled until you click a real phishing link and it’s too late. This test is designed to find these silent failures so we can fix them proactively.

What kind of threats does this protect me from?

• This is your primary defense against phishing attacks, where criminals try to trick you into entering your password on a fake login page. It also blocks sites that try to secretly install malware on your computer.