From Software Informer
McAfee SiteAdvisor
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The McAfee SiteAdvisor Website showing the review for Wikipedia | | Developed by | McAfee |
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| Initial release | April 2005 |
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| Operating system | Cross-platform |
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| Website | http://www.siteadvisor.com/ |
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SiteAdvisor is an Internet service that warns users when downloading software or filling out forms on a web site that may make them victims of malware or spam. The service was originally provided by SiteAdvisor, Inc, an MIT startup[1] first presented at CodeCon on February 10, 2006[2] and acquired by McAfee[3] on April 5, 2006.
[edit] SiteAdvisor Plus
A paid version of McAfee SiteAdvisor, McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus, has extra features. The functionality of SiteAdvisor can be accessed either through a Browser Plugin or by submitting a URL to the website.
[edit] Extra features of McAfee SiteAdvisor
- Rates email and IM links
- Indicates sites potentially harmful to your computer
- Alerts users to possibles phishing and identity theft scams
- Redirects you away from red and yellow sites (if protected mode is enabled).
[edit] False positives
SiteAdvisor has received criticism for incorrectly flagging web sites with a caution or warning label.[4][5][6]
[edit] Communication and Accountability
In the event of a positive result website owners are not contacted. Although a dispute resolution service does exist, the final decision rests with McAfee.[7] In the event that a perceived threat is removed from a site the site's rating will return to Green through a process called 'ageingout'. Depending on the nature of the threat this process can take from 10 days to a year after the site is re-crawled, no strict timetable is provided.[8]
Also, the SiteAdvisor website is slow to load, which leads to people turning away from the site.
[edit] Awards
- Time magazine named SiteAdvisor.com among the 50 coolest websites of 2005.[9]
- Popular Science awarded SiteAdvisor the "Best of What's New" award in the Computing category for 2006.[10]
- PC World ranked SiteAdvisor at #15 in "The 100 Best Products of 2007."[11]
[edit] References
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