Why wait for the snakes to slither up to your door before you start clubbing them? Wouldn't it make more sense to stay out of the swamp altogether?
Among applications designed to safeguard your browsing, most take a defensive approach. They wait for the spyware, adware, and other nasties to come near, and then beat back the baddies with diverse protective measures.
McAfee SiteAdvisor takes a different route. Small, handy and free, SiteAdvisor scans Web sites looking for those that may contain malicious code, then alerts you to these sites, warning you to stay away in order to avoid potential problems.
If you register with a site, will you be flooded with spam? If you accept a download, will be you taking on malicious programs along with your desired software? It sure would be nice to know in advance, and that's the knowledge SiteAdvisor says it can deliver.
Casting a Wide Net
The software claims comprehensive reach — SiteAdvisor developers say they have evaluated Web sites covering 95 percent of Web traffic and downloaded and tested more than 750,000 pieces of software.
SiteAdvisor uses a number of criteria to determine its safety ratings. Developers evaluate a Web site's email and download practices using proprietary data collection and analysis techniques. They tour the Web site looking for pop-ups and other annoyances. Then they look for excessive connections to other sites, which they interpret as a warning sign.
If a site offers downloads, these are checked for viruses as well as any bundled adware, spyware, or other unwanted programs. Testers complete sign-up forms using a one-time use e-mail address so that any subsequent e-mail can be tracked.
SiteAdvisor accepts no payment from rated sites, so ratings can be presumed to be objective and fairly applied.
You'll need Internet Explorer or Firefox to make SiteAdvisor go, but assuming you pass this hurdle, the rest is easy. The application downloads, fires up, asks your permission to proceed, and then puts itself in place as a plug-in. Bring up a Web page and the SiteAdvisor button on the toolbar will deliver a color-coded reading: Green for safe site, yellow for questionable, and red for sites you should avoid.
To learn more about a site, SiteAdvisor offers a pull-down menu whose 'View Site Details' delivers a full run-down on the site including the volume of spam you'll get if you register, any questionable downloads, and other salient details.
