What's a safe web site?

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I recommend Site Advisor as one step in checking out an unknown website. But, as you point out, the automated tools are not always accurate, so I always recommend reading the user comments as well. Often, SA gives a green status on a site which has dozens of "how can you call this green" comments. And, it is sometimes deluged with fake "this site is great" comments.

It even had our site "red" for a while, which actually turned out to be sort of legitimate. We had an ancient MS-DOS copy of PKWare's free unzip utility, which was apparently bundled with what today would be called "adware". Of course, that one "bad" download caused our entire site to be flagged red. I removed that file from our site, and used SA's "website owner comment" to note what happened. Unfortunately, it took several months before our site went green again.

I hadn't heard of "Web of Trust" before now. I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks.

I've been using WOT for a long time and highly recommend it with on warning. WOT has never missed a dangerous site, but on the other hand I've seen a few false positives. I don't believe these were mistakes but sometimes some websites were blacklisted on WOT for some political or religious predjudices of the WOT users. But better safe than sorry. If you're not sure, stay away. If you know the site already you migh take a chance and go there.

Does anyone have any experience in using both McAfee’s SiteAdvisor and Norton’s Site Safety? Which of the two is better?

I've been using AVG's linkscanner for a while now. Turns up some false positives, but so far no false negatives.

There is a Safe way to surf the internet now and become invisible...
The New Software is call Covert Surfer...
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A window at the top right hand of the tool bar shows the Fake IP that Hackers See...and the Proxie Servers IP...not your PC's Ip it is invisible.
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Is there a way I can accept ONLY text cookies and no tracking or other code? If I surf anonymously and can block everything incoming except text cookies wouldn’t that make me quite safe?

How about AVG Link scanner in AVG Internet Security Suite. I have been using for some years with good result.

Unfortunately my experience with the AVG link scanner has not been good. It caused several problems within the browser. I've since heard from others that I'm not alone in that regard, so I avoid it.

14-Oct-2009

FYI, finjan can be added to your list. Not a complete answer, as you identify wot and Site adviser >>at leat one more seemingly safe source.

My Best diligent

If you are on a secure site, simply click on the padlock in the address bar (depending on your browser, this might need a double-click or right-click). You will see to whom the security certificate was given. While phishers may fake a website, the verisign security certificate is a pretty safe indication of the authenticity of a web site.

Yes, the AVG Link Scanner does provide a means of vetting website links and so offers a possible solution. However, I agree 100% with Leo when he says "I've experienced and also had several reports of this feature seriously impacting browser performance. I recommend turning it off immediately. In fact, I recommend turning off any browser intrusive or email intrusive features on any anti-malware program at the first sign of problems". Only last night I turned off these features on a friend's computer which then became appreciably faster and more responsive.
Experience and being wary of downloads are the best defence.

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