Software:McAfee WebAdvisor

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Short description: Website safety report software
McAfee SiteAdvisor
Developer(s)McAfee
Initial releaseApril 2006
Operating systemCross-platform
Websitesiteadvisor.com archive

McAfee WebAdvisor, previously known as McAfee SiteAdvisor, is a service that reports on the safety of web sites by crawling the web and testing the sites it finds for malware and spam. A browser extension can show these ratings on hyperlinks such as on web search results.[1]

The service was originally developed by SiteAdvisor, Inc, an MIT startup[2] first introduced at CodeCon on February 10, 2006,[3] and later acquired by McAfee[4] on April 5, 2006.

Usage

Prior to mid-October 2014, the functionality of SiteAdvisor could be accessed by submitting a URL to the website at https://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/, but can now also be accessed through a downloadable Browser Plugin.[5] Sites are rated in levels of Safe (green tick), Suspicious (yellow exclamation mark) and Unsafe (red "X").

Additional features include:

  • Rates email and IM links
  • Indicates sites potentially harmful to your computer
  • Allows users to safely shorten URLs when sharing links
  • Alerts users to possible phishing and identity theft scams

Products and services

McAfee WebAdvisor is available as a free download on McAfee's website[1] as well as bundled with McAfee Antivirus Plus, McAfee Internet Security, McAfee Total Protection, McAfee McAfee+ Premium, McAfee+ Advanced, McAfee+ Ultimate, and McAfee Business Protection.

McAfee WebAdvisor makes use of the TrustedSource website reputation organisation, to act as something like a 'cloud' intelligence software to get the most up-to-date information on websites as possible, very similar to McAfee's Active Protection (Artemis) system. The details of this system are not known.

Orther features of McAfee WebAdvisor include:

  • Download Protection - This can stop downloads which are considered to be slightly, probably or possibly risky depending on setting determined by the user.
  • Protection against accidental clicks
  • Blocks malware and phishing websites if you accidentally click on a malicious link.
  • Protection against typos - Warns you if you enter a web address incorrectly and points you to the correct one.
  • Social Media Protection - color-codes links in your social media feeds to show you which ones are safe.

Games and quizzes

In March 2006, McAfee launched a JavaScript-based quiz which has users pick between sites rated as safe and unsafe.[6]

A flash-based memory training game called WebQuest was launched around 2007.[7]

Studies and research

WebAdvisor has published various reports regarding online threats such as typosquatting, where mistyped domains may lead to sites ranging from harmless pay-per-click and domain parking sites to pornographic and malware sites.[8]

Criticism

False negatives

The very nature of WebAdvisor and the long periods between site crawls mean that, even if the WebAdvisor tests were 100% accurate, a Safe rating offers no guarantee of safety. Malicious code and browser exploits often spread fast over large numbers of websites,[9] meaning a Safe rating may not be up to date and provide a false sense of security. To resolve this, McAfee WebAdvisor now uses McAfee's AI technology[10] to analyze site content before a website is opened.

Awards

  • Time magazine named SiteAdvisor.com among the 50 coolest websites of 2006.[11]
  • Popular Science awarded SiteAdvisor the "Best of What's New" award in the Computing category for 2006.[12]
  • PC World ranked SiteAdvisor at #15 in "The 100 Best Products of 2007."[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "McAfee WebAdvisor". https://www.mcafee.com/en-us/safe-browser/mcafee-webadvisor.html. 
  2. ↑ "Safe Surfing: McAfee acquires MIT startup SiteAdvisor". https://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/04/safe-surfing-mcafee-acquires-mit.html. 
  3. ↑ "CodeCon 2006". 2008-04-30. http://www.codecon.org/2006/program.html. 
  4. ↑ "SiteAdvisor blog: Taking SiteAdvisor to the Next Level". 2006-05-23. http://blog.siteadvisor.com/2006/04/taking_siteadvisor_to_the_next.shtml. 
  5. ↑ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine from Oct 12, 2014 shows "View Report Now" option". Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141012233952/http://www.siteadvisor.com/. 
  6. ↑ SiteAdvisor - Spyware Quiz - March 2006
  7. ↑ "McAfee SiteAdvisor WebQuest". http://www.siteadvisor.com/webquest/. 
  8. ↑ Keats, Shane (November 2007). "What's In A Name: The State of Typo-Squatting 2007". McAfee, Inc.. http://www.siteadvisor.com/studies/typo_squatters_nov2007.html. 
  9. ↑ "PC-pwning infection hits 30,000 legit websites". https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/30/mass_web_infection/. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  10. ↑ "McAfee Smart AI". https://www.mcafee.com/ai/mcafee-smart-ai/. 
  11. ↑ "SiteAdvisor's entry in Time's 50 coolest websites of 2005". 2006-08-03. http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1222614,00.html#mcafeesiteadvisor. Retrieved 2006-10-13. 
  12. ↑ "SiteAdvisor's entry in Popular Science's Best of What's New 2006". http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2006/product_36.html. Retrieved 2007-04-20. 
  13. ↑ "PC World's list of "The 100 Best Products of 2007"". http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131935-page,13/article.html. Retrieved 2007-05-23. 



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