Site Advisor Security Toolbar Test
Originally posted on May 15, 2006
I am currently testing a Firefox/IE security extension called Site Advisor. It is a Beta product from McAfee, and is freeware. It places an icon on the statusbar of the browser. That icon changes colors as you browse websites. Normally it is green, meaning that as far as they know this website is safe to view. Some sites cause it to turn yellow, indicating unsafe associations, while dangerous websites make it turn RED. Those sites are the ones that force downloads by exploiting browser vulnerabilities, or spam you if you sign up for their newsletter/mailing list.
I will try it out in both Firefox and Internet Explorer and report my findings. If you want to try it yourself go to www.siteadvisor.com/
If you like the product and wish to become a Reviewer signup for an account. Then you can post comments about safe or dangerous websites that you visit. This may help save others from having spyware or Trojans installed by driveby downloads, or from visiting spammy websites that unleash a slew of popup windows when you go to that website or try to leave it.
I will be posting comments about my experiences with the Site Advisor toolbar as extensions to this Posting.
The Site Advisor has been updated a few times since it's first release. If you are using a version more than 1 month old you should check for updates. Firefox extensions can be checked en-masse by going to Tools > Extensions > Find Updates.
Well, I am now three and a half months into evaluating the Site Advisor toolbar plugin for Firefox and I can say truthfully that is an an excellent extension for your browser, and for your computer's security. I have been looking over search results pages every day and due to their infrequence, the red marked results stand out like a sore thumb! The sites with those alerts are known to deliver viruses, adware, spyware, trojans, backdoors or rootkits, either by embedding them into the software they stock, or by using scripts to force downloads via insecure browser settings.
I strongly recommend the McAfee Site Advisor to the general browsing public, as a means of ramping up your security awareness a notch. It will not prevent you from doing something foolish, but it does alert you that you are about to venture into unsafe waters.
Better online security can be obtained by reducing the privileges assigned to your daily browsing account, that you are logged into. See this blog post for more details about user privileges.
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