Osprey: Browser Protection

Once installed, Osprey will automatically start protecting you. You don't need to do anything else. It will check every website you visit against the threat intelligence providers you have enabled, and block any that are dangerous.

You can leave them alone. Every provider is enabled by default, and Osprey will check every website you visit against all of them. You can turn any of them off if you want, or add your own API keys for some providers. A protection provider is just a third-party service that provides threat intelligence to Osprey. Threat intelligence refers to information about malicious websites, phishing pages, scams, and other online threats.

Yes, any of them, whenever you like. Click the Osprey icon, choose Open Settings, and switch off the ones you do not want. The default settings are recommended for most users, but you can customize them to your needs. You can also add your own API keys for some providers if you have them.

Yes. Your browser's built-in protection is a good start, but it only checks against one source of threat intelligence, which misses a lot of new phishing websites. Osprey checks every website you visit against up to 21 different sources, so it can catch more threats and block them before they load.

No. Osprey is built to be as lightweight as possible. It doesn't stop pages from loading, and it checks every website in a fraction of a second. You won't notice any difference to your browsing speed.

No. Osprey either lets a website through completely untouched, or it stops it and shows a warning. There is no in-between. It doesn't check page contents or modify anything, so it cannot break a website. It only blocks the whole page if it is dangerous.

You can add the website to your list of exclusions, click through the 'Continue anyway' button, or turn off the protection provider that blocked it. You can also take some time to report it as a false positive.

Yes, if you switch it on for those windows. Your browser keeps that turned off by default for every add-on. Private windows stay completely separate from your normal browsing.

You might not have a default mailto: handler set up on your computer. Osprey uses mailto: links to create pre-written emails to threat intelligence providers. You can either set up a default mailto: handler, or copy the email address and paste it into your email program.

Osprey sends the URL of the page you are visiting to our private proxy server, which checks it against the threat intelligence providers. Since every provider only sees the proxy server's IP address, there's no way for them to know who you are or what you are looking at. Osprey does not log your browsing history, and the proxy server does not log your IP address.

No. Osprey does not block ads. It only blocks websites that are dangerous, and it does not modify any page contents. You can keep your ad blocker installed alongside Osprey.

No. Osprey does a different job from both and is built to sit alongside them. Keep everything you already have. You do not need to turn anything off.

Osprey installs from the Chrome, Edge, and Firefox stores, so it can be pushed to managed browsers the same way as any other extension through your existing device management. Because it needs no account and no license keys, there is nothing to provision per user, and every provider is enabled by default. The source is public if your security team wants to review it before rolling it out.

Yes. Osprey is updated regularly and every change is published publicly the day it is made. You can see the source code and the changelog on GitHub, and you can report bugs or request features there too.