How to use Web Safe

Virus safe prevents you from accessing web sites which may contain harmful malware or viruses.

Child Safe is an additional feature to Web Safe that enables the account holder to block sites that they consider inappropriate for the family or children. You can customise your Child Safe settings for your family by clicking on the Categories, Sites or Timer filters and selecting the level of protection. By doing this, we will block the following unsuitable site categories automatically:

• Pornography
• Violence
• Crime
• Hate
• Drugs
• Hacking
• Suicide and Self Harm
• Address Hiding

These categories will remain blocked until you turn Child Safe off. If Child Safe is turned off, the settings are saved until Child Safe is turned on again.

Our Child Safe filters can help you to further customise websites and site categories you wish to block or allow, to protect you and your family from seeing unsuitable content online.

1. On the categories filter, you can block or allow additional site categories such as gambling, weapons, alcohol and tobacco, and social media.
2. On the sites filter, you can tell us which websites you want to allow as an exception to a blocked site category or block specific websites you feel are unsuitable or harmful to you or your family.
3. With our timer filter, you are in control of when you want Child Safe to be active. Simply set the date and time you wish to deactivate and any category or site restrictions will be temporarily suspended within that timeframe.

When you choose to block a site with Web Safe, or when your Child Safe timer reactivates your block settings, you may have to restart your device before the site or category is blocked. Remember: if you do turn either filter off, you will lose your home network-level protection for that feature.

One of the best things about Web Safe is that it is so easy to use! It’s either on and doing its best to protect you, or you can choose to turn it off. If you’ve activated Child Safe or Virus Safe, when other members of the family try to access a site that has been determined to be inappropriate or one that you have chosen to block yourself – they’ll be notified with a message giving you an opportunity to explain why the site is blocked.

If there is a website that you believe is safe but has been blocked or there is a site that can be accessed that you believe should be blocked as part of a category, you can report it through My Virgin Media:

1. Sign in
   
2. Select My Apps
   
3. Select Web Safe
   
4. Select Settings
   
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Report a Website

Virgin Media has switched on your parental controls by default. We think this site may be fraudulent, contain material that’s unsuitable for children or viruses that could be harmful – and so it’s been blocked by your account’s Web Safe settings.

You can change your settings at any time. Simply sign into your My Virgin Media account, go to My Apps and then Web Safe.

Web Safe works with any device connected to your home network, to block websites with viruses or malicious and unsuitable content. Virgin Media Internet Security works by scanning each file downloaded onto your PC and attempting to block any malicious website before it reaches your computer. See Virgin Media Internet Security for more details.

It’s important to remember that Web Safe protects all your devices connected via your router, whereas anti-virus software only protects the device it’s installed on. For best protection, we recommend using Virgin Media Internet Security and Web Safe.

Web Safe child safe mode only applies to your broadband connection and won’t change any of your TV Go or TiVo parental control settings.

Your Web Safe only protects you when you’re at home and connected to your broadband. If a friend has Virgin Broadband and their Web Safe malware protection is switched on, you’ll be protected while connected to their broadband.

For complete protection on your favourite devices, we recommend installing Virgin Media Internet Security.

Yes. As well as providing protection for all the devices on your home network 24/7, Web Safe is automatically updated. While this provides the most effective protection, it’s not possible to guarantee 100% protection due to the ever-changing nature of the web.

Web Safe will block HTTPS websites if they fall in your blocked websites list or if the related website category is blocked.

When an HTTPS site is blocked, you will receive a normal browser error message saying it can’t connect to the webpage, instead of our Web Safe blocked message. For example, if a social networking site is blocked on your Web Safe settings, then any secure link associated with a social media site will take you to an error page.

You won’t need to block the HTTPS version of a site if you’ve already chosen to block the main site through your Web Safe settings.

Web Safe only works when you’re connected to your Virgin Broadband at home. Although Virgin Media WiFi includes content protection, to make sure you’re protected when you’re on the go, we recommend you install F-Secure SAFE.

Although we do our best to provide families with excellent parental controls, technology cannot provide 100% protection from all potential issues kids are facing online.

That’s why we have created Switched on Families – an online platform and interactive guide to keep parents informed and confident about their choices for managing their home internet.

Smart Security is Virgin Media’s latest cybersecurity offer, which lets you add an extra layer of protection to all the devices on your network, including your smart devices. And the best part is it’s totally free.

Smart Security lives on your Hub and so protects any connected devices by actively fending off cyber-attacks. That way, your whole home is safe from any external threats such as ransomware, data stealing or remote control of your devices.

If you’re interested in Smart Security, you can activate it via the Virgin Media Connect App, where you can manage your Security through our handy Smart Security dashboard.

Yes, Smart Security offers protection for all devices on your network, including any smart devices – such as doorbells, cameras or meters.

Smart Security is currently being trialled with our Hub 5 customers. All you need to do is download the Virgin Media Connect App, go into the Home tab to activate the feature. Don’t forget to connect to your Virgin Media WiFi to make the most of the app’s features.

Once activated you’ll be able to monitor your security across your network and on your browser – you’ll even be able to see what nasty threats have been blocked.

If you have a Hub 5, then you can enable Smart Security by activating it via the Home screen of the Connect App. There is a limit on the number of trialists we can share Smart Security with, so make sure you’re quick to activate the feature once you see it in your Home screen.

If you’ve activated Smart Security and you’ve changed your mind, you can disable the feature by clicking into the settings icon in the top left corner of your Home tab.

At the end of the trial, we’ll make a decision around whether or not to extend Smart Security to other customers.