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The SiteAdvisor; from McAfee
Nycil George, Oct 02, 2006 1000 hrs ISTReports indicate that the world at large is getting more and more Internet savvy. But, there is no escaping the great big threat of spam!
The number of Internet users reportedly surpassed one billion in 2005, up from only 45 million in 1995, and 420 million in 2000, with India accounting for 50.6 million. China and India are now at second and fourth place respectively, amongst Internet users. There is an estimation that the number of Internet users will reach two billion by 2011. But, no matter how Internet-savvy the world and India gets, it is found that there is no escaping the great big threat of spam.
It's as if McAfee, knowing the severity of this problem, recently launched a Web site dedicated to checking and advising Internet users on how and what to do while using the Internet. "SiteAdvisor" was created to prevent a new breed of "social engineering" tricks like spyware infections, identity theft scams, and sites that send excessive e-mail.
To address this challenge, a system of automated testers was created, which continually patrol the Web, to browse sites, download files, and enter information on sign-up forms. All these results are documented, and are then supplemented with feedback from users, comments from Web site owners, and analysis from the employees.
The easy to use software for Internet Explorer and Firefox summarizes the safety results into intuitive Red, Yellow, and Green ratings, to help Web users stay safe as they search, browse, and transact online.
The goal of the company is to pioneer a new approach to Web safety, and make the Internet safer for everyone. Now, McAfee SiteAdvisor is available for free download to all - to help Internet users use Internet safely.
Supplementing this effort, McAfee lately conducted a Quiz Contest to test awareness, as well as the most popular ways in which Internet users judge a Web site for its usability and safety. McAfee has now announced the results of this first-ever "Spam Quiz," which revealed that consumers misjudge Web site e-mail practices almost half the time.
The quiz, launched on August 15 by the McAfee SiteAdvisor team, presented consumers with the homepages and privacy policy links of eight pairs of Web sites, and asked them to judge which site from each pair would likely guard their e-mail address. With more than 7,000 responses tabulated, the average score was only 55 percent, indicating that consumers are poor judges of which Web sites share e-mail addresses with third-party advertisers.
Chris Dixon, director - strategy, McAfee SiteAdvisor, said, "Spam is more than just an annoyance; it makes the e-mail inbox one of the primary gateways for viruses, phishing attacks, and identity theft. Moreover, uncertainty about Web site e-mail practices has caused consumer skepticism about registering for newsletters, forums, and other safe online pursuits."
The pairs of sites used in the quiz came from popular online categories. The percentage of consumers able to correctly determine a Web site's safety varied by category including; Online Dating Sites: 40 percent, Credit Cards Sites: 44 percent, Petition Sites: 52 percent, Sweepstakes Sites: 53 percent, Jokes Sites: 56 percent, E-Card Sites: 57 percent, Games Sites: 68 percent, and Scholarships Sites: 68 percent.
Kartik Shahani, director sales (India), McAfee, said, "People are bent on going to sites they are prohibited from, and that leads to all the trouble. SiteAdvisor advises the users on what is right and what is not. To follow or not is again left to the users. The SiteAdvisor will soon be integrated with all key suits of MacAfee."
Reportedly, McAfee's SiteAdvisor database contains safety test results for more than 7.6 million Web sites. SiteAdvisor is available as a free, standalone download at http://us.mcafee.com, and is also an integrated part of McAfee's 2007 Security Suites.
It's as if McAfee, knowing the severity of this problem, recently launched a Web site dedicated to checking and advising Internet users on how and what to do while using the Internet. "SiteAdvisor" was created to prevent a new breed of "social engineering" tricks like spyware infections, identity theft scams, and sites that send excessive e-mail.
To address this challenge, a system of automated testers was created, which continually patrol the Web, to browse sites, download files, and enter information on sign-up forms. All these results are documented, and are then supplemented with feedback from users, comments from Web site owners, and analysis from the employees.
The easy to use software for Internet Explorer and Firefox summarizes the safety results into intuitive Red, Yellow, and Green ratings, to help Web users stay safe as they search, browse, and transact online.
The goal of the company is to pioneer a new approach to Web safety, and make the Internet safer for everyone. Now, McAfee SiteAdvisor is available for free download to all - to help Internet users use Internet safely.
Supplementing this effort, McAfee lately conducted a Quiz Contest to test awareness, as well as the most popular ways in which Internet users judge a Web site for its usability and safety. McAfee has now announced the results of this first-ever "Spam Quiz," which revealed that consumers misjudge Web site e-mail practices almost half the time.
The quiz, launched on August 15 by the McAfee SiteAdvisor team, presented consumers with the homepages and privacy policy links of eight pairs of Web sites, and asked them to judge which site from each pair would likely guard their e-mail address. With more than 7,000 responses tabulated, the average score was only 55 percent, indicating that consumers are poor judges of which Web sites share e-mail addresses with third-party advertisers.
Chris Dixon, director - strategy, McAfee SiteAdvisor, said, "Spam is more than just an annoyance; it makes the e-mail inbox one of the primary gateways for viruses, phishing attacks, and identity theft. Moreover, uncertainty about Web site e-mail practices has caused consumer skepticism about registering for newsletters, forums, and other safe online pursuits."
The pairs of sites used in the quiz came from popular online categories. The percentage of consumers able to correctly determine a Web site's safety varied by category including; Online Dating Sites: 40 percent, Credit Cards Sites: 44 percent, Petition Sites: 52 percent, Sweepstakes Sites: 53 percent, Jokes Sites: 56 percent, E-Card Sites: 57 percent, Games Sites: 68 percent, and Scholarships Sites: 68 percent.
Kartik Shahani, director sales (India), McAfee, said, "People are bent on going to sites they are prohibited from, and that leads to all the trouble. SiteAdvisor advises the users on what is right and what is not. To follow or not is again left to the users. The SiteAdvisor will soon be integrated with all key suits of MacAfee."
Reportedly, McAfee's SiteAdvisor database contains safety test results for more than 7.6 million Web sites. SiteAdvisor is available as a free, standalone download at http://us.mcafee.com, and is also an integrated part of McAfee's 2007 Security Suites.
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(3) Comments
samir
,pne, on Dec 13, 2006 12:29 PM
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ayan
,Kolkata, on Oct 02, 2006 07:59 PM
Vishal_Kadakia
,mumbai, on Oct 02, 2006 02:54 PM
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