How can you make sure the websites you visit are safe, or that you can download a file from a website without worrying about being infected with some kind of malware?
One way is to stick to well known sites like CNET.com and the related Download.com. But even these trustworthy sites may have links to other sites with dubious content.
One of the tools which I find useful is McAfee's SiteAdvisor (the free version, I haven't tried the paid version as it doesn't work with Firefox). Basically SiteAdvisor puts an indicator in your browser's toolbar (IE) or status bar (Firefox) which indicates a websites' safety rating: Green for no problems, yellow for caution, and a red/pink for warning. When you click on the SiteAdvisor button it gives details of the site, including suspect files and other websites linked to.
It is not often that I use or recommend a McAfee product, especially one that flags my main Techno Files Blog with a yellow caution - this due to a freeware download I linked to over a year ago which changes your Internet Explorer home page. I have since removed this link but haven't been able to get SiteAdvisor to realize this. I still use SiteAdvisor though...
1 comment:
Hi, It's Shane from SiteAdvisor. Thanks for the recommendation! FYI, we added Firefox support for SiteAdvisor Plus in December. Safe surfing and searching to you.
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