Documentation — ARGUS Cybersecurity

Getting Started

Get up and running with ARGUS in minutes. Follow these steps to start analyzing websites for threats and vulnerabilities.

Installation & First Steps

Install ARGUS from the Chrome Web Store (click "Add to Chrome")
Click the ARGUS icon in your browser toolbar, or press Ctrl+Shift+A (Cmd+Shift+A on Mac) to open the popup
Navigate to any website — ARGUS automatically begins analyzing the page in the background
Open the side panel by pressing Ctrl+Shift+S (Cmd+Shift+S on Mac) for a detailed threat breakdown

Quick Start Checklist

Install the ARGUS extension from the Chrome Web Store
Pin ARGUS to your toolbar for quick access
Open the popup on any website to see your first scan
Open the side panel for detailed analysis views
Configure API keys in Settings for enhanced scanning
Create your ARGUS account for team collaboration (optional)

Account Setup

Create your ARGUS account to unlock team collaboration, scan history syncing, and more. Setting up takes less than a minute.

1

Download ARGUS

Install the ARGUS extension from the Chrome Web Store and pin it to your browser toolbar for easy access.

2

Open Settings

Click the ARGUS icon in your browser toolbar
Select "Open Settings" from the popup menu
Navigate to the "Account" section

3

Create Your Account

Click "Create Account"
Enter your display name, email address, and a secure password
Click "Sign Up" to create your account

4

Verify Your Email

Check your inbox for a verification email from verification@arguslabs.tech
Click the verification link in the email
If you do not see it, check your spam or junk folder

5

Sign In & Get Started

Return to ARGUS and sign in with your email and password
Your account is now active — you can access team features, sync scan history, and more

Account Tips

Verification email not arriving?

Check your spam or junk folder. The email comes from verification@arguslabs.tech. If it still does not arrive after a few minutes, try clicking "Resend Verification" in the Account settings.

Forgot your password?

Click "Forgot Password" on the sign-in screen. A password reset link will be sent to your registered email address.

Want to change your email or display name?

Go to Settings → "Account" to update your profile information at any time.

Quick Scan

Quick Scan provides an instant security assessment of any website you visit.

How to Trigger

Press Ctrl+Shift+X (Cmd+Shift+X on Mac), or
Click the ARGUS icon in your toolbar and select "Quick Scan"

What It Checks

Quick Scan evaluates websites across 5 evidence categories:

Infrastructure — Domain age, SSL certificates, hosting information, DNS records
Content — Page content analysis, suspicious text patterns, brand impersonation
Behavior — Redirects, pop-ups, clipboard access, downloads
Social Engineering — Urgency cues, fake login forms, deceptive design
Technical — JavaScript analysis, obfuscation detection, fingerprinting

Understanding the Risk Score

ARGUS assigns a risk score from 0 to 100, color-coded by severity:

Score Range	Level	Meaning
0 – 15	Safe	No significant threats detected
16 – 35	Low	Minor issues found, generally safe
36 – 55	Medium	Some concerns — proceed with caution
56 – 80	High	Significant threats detected — avoid entering sensitive data
81 – 100	Critical	Highly dangerous — likely phishing or malware

Deep Analysis

Deep Analysis performs a comprehensive security audit with additional checks beyond Quick Scan.

How to Trigger

Open the side panel (Ctrl+Shift+S / Cmd+Shift+S)
Click the "Deep Scan" button

Additional Checks

Deep Analysis extends the Quick Scan by performing:

Extended JavaScript behavior analysis
Third-party resource evaluation
Cookie and storage inspection
Network request pattern analysis
Form and input field security review
Hidden element detection

Analysis Modes

Mode	Speed	Depth	Best For
Quick	~2s	Surface-level	Everyday browsing
Balanced	~5s	Moderate	Suspicious links, general analysis
Deep	~15s	Comprehensive	Full security audits, investigations

Reading the Results

The detailed findings are organized by category with individual evidence items. Each item includes a confidence score, description, and contributing factors that explain why it was flagged.

Pentest Scanner

The professional-grade penetration testing scanner identifies vulnerabilities and security misconfigurations.

How to Access

Open the side panel (Ctrl+Shift+S / Cmd+Shift+S)
Navigate to the "Pentest" tab

Available Checks (21 Total)

XSS Detection

Security Headers

Cookie Security

Information Disclosure

JavaScript Security

Library Vulnerabilities

Form Security

Mixed Content

Clickjacking

Open Redirect

SRI (Subresource Integrity)

CORS Misconfiguration

Authentication Analysis

Credential Exposure

API Endpoint Discovery

Backend Intelligence

IDOR Detection

JWT Analysis

File Exposure

WebSocket Security

Understanding CVSS Scores

Each vulnerability is assigned a CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) score from 0.0 to 10.0, indicating severity. Higher scores represent more critical vulnerabilities that should be addressed first.

Generating Reports

After a pentest scan completes, click "Generate Report" to create a professional report. Reports are available in both Markdown and HTML formats, suitable for sharing with development teams or clients.

AI-Enhanced Analysis

When an AI provider is configured, you can enable AI-enhanced analysis for deeper insights. The AI will provide contextual explanations, remediation suggestions, and attack chain analysis for each finding.

IMPORTANT: Only scan websites you own or have explicit written authorization to test. Unauthorized scanning may violate computer fraud laws in your jurisdiction.

AI Analysis

ARGUS integrates with leading AI providers to deliver intelligent security insights and recommendations.

Supported Providers

Provider	Models
OpenAI	GPT-4o, GPT-4o-mini
Anthropic	Claude
Google	Gemini

How to Configure

Open ARGUS Settings
Navigate to "AI Configuration"
Select your preferred provider
Enter your API key
Choose a model (if applicable)
Click "Save"

What AI Can Do

Risk Summaries — Plain-language explanation of detected threats
Phishing Reasoning — Detailed analysis of why a site may be phishing
Incident Reports — Structured security incident documentation
Technical Explanations — In-depth technical breakdowns of findings
Next Action Suggestions — Recommended steps based on the analysis
Attack Chain Analysis — How multiple vulnerabilities could be combined

Privacy Note

URLs and page content are only sent to your chosen AI provider when you explicitly request AI analysis. ARGUS never sends data to AI services automatically or without your consent. Your API key is encrypted at rest using AES-GCM.

Team Management

ARGUS supports team collaboration through secure, cloud-backed organizations. Requires an ARGUS account to get started.

Creating an Organization

Sign in to your ARGUS account
Go to Settings → "Organization"
Click "Create Organization"
Enter your organization name
You will be assigned the Owner role automatically

Inviting Members

Join Codes — Generate a unique code that team members can enter to join
Email Invites — Send invitation links directly to email addresses

Roles & Permissions

Role	Capabilities
Owner	Full control — manage members, roles, policies, billing, and all settings
Admin	Manage members, configure scanning policies, view audit logs
Analyst	Run scans, view results, generate reports, use AI analysis
Viewer	View scan results and reports (read-only access)

Security Policies

Owners and Admins can configure organization-wide security policies, including mandatory scanning rules, blocklist domains, and minimum scan depth requirements.

Audit Logs

All team actions are recorded in the audit log, including scans, setting changes, and member management events. Accessible from the Organization settings panel.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Access ARGUS features quickly with these keyboard shortcuts.

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Shift+A` / `Cmd+Shift+A`	Open ARGUS popup
`Ctrl+Shift+S` / `Cmd+Shift+S`	Open side panel
`Ctrl+Shift+X` / `Cmd+Shift+X`	Quick scan current page

Customizing Shortcuts

Chrome allows you to customize extension shortcuts. Navigate to chrome://extensions/shortcuts to modify the default key bindings.

API Keys Setup

ARGUS integrates with threat intelligence services for enhanced scanning. All API keys are encrypted at rest.

Supported Services

VirusTotal

Sign up at virustotal.com
Go to your profile (click your avatar → API key)
Copy your API key

AbuseIPDB

Sign up at abuseipdb.com
Navigate to your dashboard
Find your API key in the API section

URLScan.io

Sign up at urlscan.io
Go to Settings → API
Generate and copy your API key

Where to Enter API Keys

Open ARGUS Settings → "Threat Intelligence" section. Paste each API key into the corresponding field and click Save. Keys are encrypted using AES-GCM before storage.

Troubleshooting

Solutions to common issues you may encounter with ARGUS.

Extension not loading

Navigate to chrome://extensions, find ARGUS, and click the reload button. Make sure the extension is enabled (toggle is blue).

Scan not working

The content script may not be injected. Try refreshing the page first. If the issue persists, check if the site restricts content scripts (some internal Chrome pages do).

AI features not responding

Verify that your API key is correct and that your account has sufficient credits or quota. Check the AI provider's status page for outages.

Account or sign-in issues

Make sure your email is verified. If you are having trouble signing in, try resetting your password from the sign-in screen. For persistent issues, contact hello@arguslabs.tech.

Side panel not opening

Make sure Chrome is updated to the latest version (side panel API requires Chrome 114+). Try restarting Chrome if the shortcut does not respond.

API keys not saving

Ensure you have sufficient browser storage permissions. Try clearing the extension's storage from chrome://extensions → Details → Clear data, then re-enter your keys.

Extension conflicts

Some security or ad-blocking extensions may interfere with ARGUS. Try disabling other extensions temporarily to isolate the issue.

Still Need Help?

If you cannot resolve your issue, visit our Contact page to reach the ARGUS team. Please include your Chrome version, ARGUS version, and steps to reproduce the issue.