How to Search safely using McAfee SiteAdvisor
In this article I will teach you how to install and use the free verison of McAfee SiteAdvisor. Simply put SiteAdvisor tells you if a website is bad or good. So, what is a bad website (according to SiteAdvisor):
- websites that contain links to malware (viruses, spyware, exploits).
- websites that link to other bad websites.
- websites participate in fraudulent activities .
- websites that excessively spam email addresses.
Let’s begin the install now. Please follow the 8 simple steps below to start searching safely.
- Open your web browser (either internet explorer or firefox). This tutorial is written using firefox, but the internet explorer install of SiteAdvisor is much the same.
- Go to www.siteadvisor.com. You will see a download link that looks like the image below. Click the Download button.
- Click the I agree button and then click Install SiteAdvisor
- Firefox or Internet explorer will most likely ask you if you trust the download or website. You should allow IE or firefox to download (click options in firefox and add the SiteAdvisor site).
- Once you allow the website in firefox you need to click the download link in the image above again. Then you will see the image below. Click Install Now.
- Restart firefox and then SiteAdvisor will be loaded and working.
- Now the fun starts…go to google or yahoo and do a search for whatever. I searched for remove malware. Look at the image below. Behind each link is a either a red x, a green check mark or an exclamation mark. Sites with red X’s should always be avoided, sites with green check marks are safe to visit and sites with exclamation marks means that if you do visit them be careful.
8. Looking at the example above download3000 dot com is a red x website, but why are red? Move your mouse over the red x to find out why you shouldn’t visit this website.
Wow, this site is hosting a lot of red downloads (probably adware based files), so it’s safe to say I’ll not be visiting this site.
Site-Advisor is a really nice addon for browsing safely and preventing malware from being accidently installed. Red and Green icons tell even the most basic pc user what they can and can’t view on the internet while searching.
