Luketan/internet tools

In recent months there has being many security services and programs launched that try to protect users by listing malicious sites. Examples include SiteAdvisor , LinkScanner, TrendProtect and others.(See list Pctools the makers of first tier antispyware Spyware Doctor, lesser known antivirus PC Tools AntiVirus (including a free edition) as well as newly acquired Threatfire (free version offered) that uses new behavior blocking techniques have now entered the arena with Browser Defender (incidentally this is the same name as a new feature included in Norton Internet Security 2008 but that does something a little different).

Like many similar offerings, this overlays your search results with indications of whether the sites found are safe, unknown , dangerous etc.





You can also look up the report on each site.






As you can see, one of the things this services does is to analyse the files hosted on the site. Each file is scanned 3 times, using their antivirus, antispyware and finally behaviorial analysis using threat-expert . Clicking on the file will show you more details.

Browser defender also rates site by taking into account links to dodgy sites (a good sign that the site is compromised or just plain malicious)





It also checks the sites for "annoyances" such as exploits, spam, excessive popups and redirection tricks.

However the service is currently in beta and doesn't seem very reliable and has not rated any sites yet. Like many similar offerings like site advisor (but unlike link scanner), the data it shows is historic, so the data you see might be generated from an examination a few weeks ago.