While the normal browser activities proceed uninterrupted, TrustWatch undertakes its own simple handshake to one of the site's SSL servers where a special trust certificate resides. Its initial function is to authenticate that the http connection is from the proper source. In this way, the authenticity of every page can be verified, thwarting would-be site spoofers. To help inform this process, TrustWatch delivers True Credentials about the site being visited directly to the viewer of that site's content. Via a selection of tabs, TrustWatch permits the user to explore various facets of the site's trust profile.
Some tabs connect to third-party data.
Others address the content, listing the site's credentials, endorsements and authorship information. One tab shows the seals proclaimed by the site - always located at the same place in TrustWatch for every site visited. It is through these various tabs that users can plot the policies, reputation and business practices of a given e-business. It relies on COM interfaces as an Internet Explorer helper object, while using a DDE listener interface to Netscape Navigator. This enables it to hook into the event mechanisms of Windows-based browsers and email clients.