The Internet is full of various kinds of threats – malware, phishing, spyware, drive-by-downloads. The cyber-criminals are now working in a well organized manner in order to steal your financial information (credit card numbers, bank passwords etc.) and turn your computer into a zombie (a part of a large botnet). Would it not be nice if someone warns you before you visit a fraud web site or a web site designed to infect your computer with malware? The McAfee SiteAdvisor can warn you about a web site as you open it in your browser, by labeling it as Safe, Caution or Warning labels.
The McAfee SiteAdvisor software is an award-winning, free browser plug-in that gives advice about Websites before you click on a risky site. With SiteAdvisor software installed, browsers will look a little different than before. It adds small site rating icons to search results as well as a browser button and an optional search box. Together, these alert users to potentially risky sites and help them find safer alternatives. These site ratings are based on tests conducted by McAfee using an army of computers that look for all kinds of threats.
The McAfee SiteAdvisor is a browser plug-in which works with Microsoft Internet Explorer(supported only on Windows) and Mozilla Firefox(supported on Windows and Mac both). It works with nineteen different search engines in addition to the leaders – Google, Bing and Yahoo. It works in Windows XP, Vista and 7 (both 32-bit and 64-bit) and Mac. Here are some salient features of McAfee SiteAdvisor :
- It protects you from adware, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
- It advises you about the safety of sites using a colored button in your browser toolbar.
- It enhances your online search by placing site ratings next to search results.
- It warns you about dangerous sites and search results with clear messages.
- It provides you with detailed test results for every site we rate.
- It updates automatically to protect against new threats
Here is how you can install McAfee SiteAdvisor in Windows and use it for a safer online experience :
First of all visit http://www.siteadvisor.com/ in your web browser. You will find the download link on this web page labeled Free Download. Click on this free download link to start downloading SiteAdvisor. The download is a Windows setup file and is around 6.3 MB in size.
Close all your web browser windows before you start the setup program for SiteAdvisor because it needs to install the plug-ins. If your web browsers are running during the setup, then you will have to close and restart the web browsers. The installation is a breeze. Just click on the Install button to begin the installation.
After installation is finished, you are ready to use the SiteAdvisor toolbar is visible in the web browsers (only Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox). In Internet Explorer, the toolbar is shown on top while in the Firefox it is shown on bottom-right. When you visit a web site, the SiteAdvisor toolbar button shows if the site is labeled as safe, caution, warning or McAfee secure.
When you search for any keyword in search engines, it will label all the search results with safe, caution, warning or McAfee secure ratings. If the website is safe, you will see a green tick next to it; if it is unsafe, you will see a red cross next to it; and if it has some elements you have be cautious about, you will see a yellow colored caution next to its link. The McAfee Secure icon is shown for sites which are tested daily by McAfee for vulnerabilities and are safe for online shopping.
If you hover your mouse over this site ranking icon, you will see tiny information popup which shows details like downloads, email policies, links to other sites etc. You can click on the Read Site Report button to go to the McAfee Site Advisor website and see the full report about this website.
McAfee SiteAdvisor helps you to protect yourself from the bad guys on the Internet. It can tell you beforehand if a website is safe or not. If you often shop online, then the McAfee SiteAdvisor is an indispensable browser add-on.
For more information about McAfee SiteAdvisor, you can visit http://www.siteadvisor.com/howitworks/index.html.