Internet is no more WWW. It is a BBW - Big Bad World! When you are browsing the web, you may encounter many types of threats such as phishing sites that tries to trick you into revealing your private information such as paypal, online banking etc. Then there are sites that will pass on spyware onto your computer and then try to trick you into buying their anti-spyware program. Then there are scripts that is capable to exploit the browser’s vulnerability. According to the latest Netcraft web server survey, there are about 222 million sites and the numbers are growing rapidly. With that amount of sites on the Internet, distinguishing the good websites from the bad is very tricky, even for experienced users. I was almost tricked into installing a rogueware / scareware (Spy Sheriff) once because everything seemed so real!
Mozilla Firefox has a built-in security feature where it can block some attack sites and web forgeries. It works fine, but in my opinion, it is a little annoying when I want to ignore the warning and continue accessing the “attack site”. The best one is probably McAfee SiteAdvisor, a shareware has a pro version that costs $19.99 per year where it shields your PC from dangerous Web sites, no matter where they appear. It also has a free browser plugin version. In case you are looking for an alternative to McAfee Site Advisor and willing to try beyond it, then read ahead.
Top 6 Alternatives for McAfee SiteAdvisor - Browse Safe
1. WOB - Web Of Trust
Downloads:
For Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3456
For Internet Explorer: http://www.mywot.com/en/download/ie
Website: http://www.mywot.com/
2. Browser Defender toolbar by ThreatExpert
The Browser Defender toolbar by ThreatExpert allows you to surf safely by displaying site ratings as you browse the Internet. When you visit a site its address will be checked by Browserdefender’s servers and a rating shown in toolbar based on any malicious behavior or threats they have found associated with the site. The toolbar also integrates with the search results provided by popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo! so you can see if, in our view, it is safe to continue before you visit a site. It is available for Firefox as well as Internet Explorer.
Download - Browser Defender
3. AVG Security Toolbar Free Edition
New AVG Security Toolbar Free Edition gives you advice about the most dangerous online threats with ease. It marks all web pages which are infected by zero day exploits and drive-by downloads. This powerful LinkScanner™ based technology works in real-time to provide comprehensive protection. Other programs rely on static databases and cannot protect you at the only time that matters – the time you click on a link. When you search using the AVG Security Toolbar Free Edition you find out right away which links are safe and those that may cause you problems such as Phishing, exploits, Social engineering pages etc.
Download AVG Security Toolbar
4. Haute Secure
Haute Secure is a web service that detects and blocks malware for web surfers. Haute Secure looks at each page on a site individually and blocks those pages which are bad. Site Advisor also doesn’t try to block malware, just warn the user of it. Haute Secure blocks it. As soon as you locate new malware code, the plugin notifies the Haute Secure servers, which then send the information out to all other plugin users. This effectively increases the amount of web space the service can analyze quickly, adding more protection to users. It is available for opera, Firefox and IE.
Download Haute Secure
5. TrendProtect from TrendSecure
TrendProtect is a FREE browser plug-in that helps you avoid Web pages with unwanted content and hidden threats. TrendProtect rates the current page and pages listed in Google, MSN, and Yahoo search results. You can use the rating to decide if you want to visit or avoid a given Web page. To rate Web pages, TrendProtect refers to an extensive database that covers the following information for billions of Web pages:
* Content category
* Phishing scam detection
* Site reputation
* Page reputation
Download TrendProtect for FREE
6. Finjan Vital Security
Finjan SecureBrowsing provides you with safety ratings of URLs showing in your browser. Utilizing innovative security technologies, proven in large enterprise environments, it helps keep you safe from online scams as you search and browse the web.
Gives you the highest rate of malicious code detection:
* Scans the current form of a page as it available on the Web now, in real-time.
* Detects malicious content based on code analysis, rather than using signatures like anti-virus products.
* Provides the most accurate page safety rating based on the actual page content, rather than database lookup of web address like URL filtering products.
Download Finjan Vital Security
Honorary Mention:
Now Browse like a Google without any barriers.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 – the backbone of your PC’s security system, offering protection from a range of IT threats.
Hi5 Falling Stars 