Robert Vamosi,
Senior Editor
March 8, 2007
Surfing the Web can be dangerous business. We looked at five standalone safe surfing tools and compared them with the native protection within Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer 7. Each of the standalone tools promises and delivers very different results. For example, we found SiteAdvisor, the Netcraft toolbar, and LinkScanner Pro to be effective in identifying and blocking suspected phishing sites, but only SiteAdvisor Plus and Linkscanner Pro identified and blocked access to legitimate sites containing malicious downloads. The new Finjan SecureBrowsing tool is still in beta and was not evaluated. The native protection built into Firefox and Internet Explorer did not match the protection that we found in these standalone products. Although there is now a Firefox extension called Firekeeper that will check for malicious code before loading a Web page.
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| Review date | February 15, 2007 | February 16, 2007 | February 16, 2007 | February 16, 2007 | April 24, 2007 | March 08, 2007 |
| The Bottom Line | The Netcraft toolbar sets a high standard for phishing detection. Unobtrusive and easy to use, you can't beat the price (free) for this toolbar. | Linkscanner Pro does a superb job of ferreting out sites defaced with dangerous hacker code, but for complete antiphishing protection, you'll still need a second program, such as the free Netcraft toolbar. | SiteAdvisor is one of the first secure browsing tools to go mainstream, however, since its acquisition by McAfee, the product delivers uneven test results and therefore can't be recommended over the free Netcraft toolbar. | This premium edition of the free SiteAdvisor blocks also links from IM and e-mail, but we question whether that's enough to justify the additional cost. | Newcomer Finjan SecureBrowsing does a great job of identifying sites with suspected malware content, but it misses phishing sites and those linking to sites that contain malicious exploits. | This free Firefox extension, currently in alpha testing, blocks malicious sites at the browser. |
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| Platform | Info unavailable | Windows | Windows | Windows | Windows | Windows |
| License Type | Info unavailable | License | License | License | License | License |
| Subcategory | Info unavailable | Security - desktop firewall Security - intrusion and vulnerability detection | Internet & communication - internet utilities | Internet & communication - internet utilities | Internet & communication - internet utilities | Internet & communication - internet utilities |
| Product Description | Info unavailable | LinkScanner Pro - License | SiteAdvisor - License | SiteAdvisor - License | SiteAdvisor - License | SiteAdvisor - License |
| Category | Info unavailable | Security applications | Internet & communication applications | Internet & communication applications | Internet & communication applications | Internet & communication applications |
| License Pricing | Info unavailable | Standard | Standard | Standard | Standard | Standard |
| License Qty | Info unavailable | 1 user | 1 user | 1 user | 1 user | 1 user |
| OS Required | Info unavailable | Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Microsoft Windows XP Professional | Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition | Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition | Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition | Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition |
| Package Type | Info unavailable | Retail | Retail | Retail | Retail | Retail |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
| Buying choices |
Click here to download Netcraft Toolbar from Download.com. |
Download for free from CNET Download.com. |
Download for free from CNET Download.com. |
Click here to download SiteAdvisor Plus from Download.com |
Download for free from CNET Download.com. |
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