Site Advisor

This looks cool.


from:
http://www.informationweek.com/internet/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=181401865

Browser Plug-In Warns Of Surfing Risks Before Clicking

Users see green, yellow, or red tags beside hits in search results on
Google, MSN, and Yahoo.

By Gregg Keizer
TechWeb News

Mar 1, 2006 02:00 PM
A company founded by several MIT engineers launched free Internet Explorer
and Firefox plug-ins Wednesday that reveal dangerous Web sites listed by
popular search engines.

With the plug-ins installed, users see green, yellow, or red tags beside
hits in search results on Google, MSN, and Yahoo, said Boston-based
SiteAdvisor. The tags -- red represents sites that heavily spam visitors,
host spyware and adware, or hijack browser home pages -- give users a
heads-up before they click on a link.

"We believe consumers want to know, in plain English: 'If I download this
program, will it come with adware?' Or, 'if I sign up here, how much and
what kind of e-mail will I receive?'" said chief executive Chris Dixon.
"SiteAdvisor zeros in on the moment of decision, when users are about to
interact with a dangerous site. We can tell them: 'We've been here before,
and here's what happened to us.'"

The company's ratings were with the help of automated Web spiders, which
crawled the millions of sites that represent more than 95 percent of the
Internet's total traffic. Nearly half a million downloads were analyzed
for spyware and other malicious code, and 1.3 million registrations were
logged using unique e-mail address to track spam from each site source.

Users need a proactive approach to security, said Dixon, because of the
shift in attackers' strategies, from technical assaults such as viruses
and worms to for-profit attacks such as adware, spyware, spam, and
phishing.

Traditional security software "leaves a big hole in consumers' Web safety
armor because they don't know what's safe to click in the first place,"
Dixon added. "We focus on the kinds of attacks that other companies miss,
so consumers can browse with confidence and stay safe and in control
online."

Although the plug-ins are free, SiteAdvisor plans to release more powerful
versions that will carry price tags. "In the future, we will offer paid
versions with additional premium features," the company said.

The plug-ins can be downloaded from here.
Additional details on the inner workings of SiteAdvisor, check out the recent review on InternetWeek.