[SOLVED] Can this website do harm in incognito mode?

Szeska837

Commendable
Apr 20, 2021
27
0
1,530
Hi,

I opened a site, which I used a long time ago in incognito mode (to check if it's still operating), but it took me to something else (most likely the original site is no longer in use, although the address is the same). When I opened the site, all I saw was a map, which was trying to get my location (which was disabled, so it couldn't do that). I checked the html code for the site and it's very basic and only contains some geolocation javascript and css , no ads, popups or anything like that, just a map with a notification about the site itself not storing any location data. I can share the code if you want to. All in all it looks like a personal project/site, although I don't know why it uses that address.

Do you think it can do any harm, like stealing browsing data/bookmarks/download history or installing something in the background? I noticed that my downloads are visible in incognito mode and searching does bring up data from my browsing history (like searching for my email address shows it in the address bar, although I need to login to access it). I have a paid antivirus and two free ones (for second-hand scanning) and none of them showed anything. Checked the site in Virustotal and nothing was found (although searching for the site without the "https://" part shows 2 files embedding this domain, however the actual site I visited did show the "https://" part, the connection was secure) and the IP address looks legit (although different sites provided different locations in the country, all of them showed the same ISP).
 
Solution
While it sounds like you should be alright with you AV setup, incognito mode dosent protect you from anything.
Its sole purpose is to either check a website with fresh cookies (like missing a pop up window, wanting to browse without previous history clogging the shop, etc), or to not log browser history on your end.
You ISP, the websites you visit, and any malicious third parties still have the same access.

That said, I wouldnt be worried.
While it sounds like you should be alright with you AV setup, incognito mode dosent protect you from anything.
Its sole purpose is to either check a website with fresh cookies (like missing a pop up window, wanting to browse without previous history clogging the shop, etc), or to not log browser history on your end.
You ISP, the websites you visit, and any malicious third parties still have the same access.

That said, I wouldnt be worried.
 
Solution