 Better web security with SiteAdvisor
Friday, 14 July 2006
Everyone who’s used the web has at some point encountered spyware attacks, online scams and spamming sites which earn their profits by taking advantage of user ignorance. While Ad-Aware and Spybot S & D are two must-have tools that no Windows user should be without, there’s an excellent and free browser plugin from McAfee which warns you before you interact with any of the millions of dangerous websites out there.
SiteAdvisor effectively “preempts” any potential problems by adding simple colour coded (red-yellow-green) “safety ratings” to search engine results and any websites you visit. For those wanting to better understand the SiteAdvisor ratings system, the plugin also offers a “site report” which incorporates detailed test results, including:
- Email test. Does the website send out spam?
- Download test. Does the website contain adware, spyware and other malware for download?
- Online affiliations. Does the website link to known distributors of adware, spyware and other malware?
- Annoyances. Does the website employ irritating tactics like popups or tracking cookies?
- User reviews. Specific comments from the user community.
The current version is only available as a plugin for Firefox or
an extension for MSIE. If you’re using either, you’d be very foolish to ignore the many benefits SiteAdvisor offers. And if you don’t think you’ve ever been affected by any of the dastardly sites I outlined in the opening paragraph, think again. It’s almost certain that you have and you just don’t know it.
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Ivan,
Thank you for sharing this information. I tried it and love it. It's information like this that makes me return to your site on a regular basis.
Once again thanks.
The word is that the good folks at SiteAdvisor have a planned subscriber paid service which will presumably allow you to block those sites deemed to be red and dangerous:
Thanks for your kind words, Steve.