Information Resources will automatically update all University and KUPI computers running the Windows operating with SiteAdvisor on November 7, 2007.
A It can be difficult to tell the difference between a good
website and a bad website - one that has viruses, spyware or
spams you when you provide them your email address etc.
This is where SiteAdvisor comes in.
SiteAdvisor is a plug-in to your web browser that will help you decide when to visit websites and when to avoid websites. Staff at McAfee analyze and test huge volumes of websites. They then assign a safety rating for the each site, which SiteAdvisor displays as you search or surf the Internet.
Q How does SiteAdvisor help me search the Internet safely?
A When searching the Internet with search tools such as Google, Yahoo or MSN, SiteAdvisor displays safety ratings next to each search result so you know the site's safety rating before you visit the site. Most other security tools help you clean up infections after you've been infected, but by understanding SiteAdvisor ratings and using their knowledge before you visit sites, you can protect yourself from malicious sites BEFORE even going there!
Hovering over the icon will display a quick report for the site. Clicking on the icon will bring you to SiteAdvisor's website and display the full report showing exactly why it received the rating by SiteAdvisor.
Q How does SiteAdvisor help me surf the Internet safely?
A Once installed, a new SiteAdvisor menu will appear on the top-right of your Internet Explorer window or the bottom-right side of your Firefox browser. As you browse the Internet, the SiteAdvisor icon will display the safety rating of the site you are visiting. Then, you can make the decision to not download from a site if you see SiteAdvisor rates the site as poor or questionable. You can click on the icon to view additional details about the site.
Q What are the different safety ratings?
A SiteAdvisor has 3 different ratings for sites and one indicating a site has not yet been tested. If at anytime you want to know why a site was rated the way it was, just click on the safety rating icon to bring you to the SiteAdvisor report.
While searching, here are the 4 icons you will see to the right of your search result indicating the safety rating of that site. Keep in mind that sometimes well-known safe sites can be hacked or contain redirects to malicious sites and this will cause a warning even for sites marked as safe. See FAQ item for more info.
While surfing, the color of the SiteAdvisor icon in the browser indicates the safety rating:
or
This site has been tested and found no significant problems with adware/spam/viruses/downloads etc. or
This site has been tested. Use caution when using these links. If you really want to go to the site, read the SiteAdvisor report first before proceeding. You may change your mind and find another site that has the same content you want. or
This site has been tested and found to have failed too many of SiteAdvisor's safety criteria. We'd recommend avoiding these sites altogether. You can always click on the safety rating icon to read the full report. or
This site has not yet been tested by SiteAdvisor. You can submit this site for testing by SiteAdvisor to get an accurate report of the risk of browsing this site. Q What criteria does SiteAdvisor base it's safety rating on?
A You can see all the criteria that SiteAdvisor rates the site on by clicking on the SiteAdvisor safety icon. Here are all the criteria ratings used to determine the safety rating:
E-mail tests
Totals amount of spam received once email is submitted to site)
Download tests
Do files downloaded from the site contain adware, spyware or other unwanted programs?
Online affiliations
Does it link to other bad/good rated sites?
Annoyances
Does it use 3rd party cookies?
Reviewer comments
Such as: spam, adware, spyware, browser exploits, bad shopping experiences, phishing or excessive popups)
The website owner's comments
Website's owner's can comment on the safety of their own site.
Q What are the system requirements for using SiteAdvisor?
A To run SiteAdvisor with Internet Explorer:
- Operating System: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista (XP recommended)
- Web Browser: Internet Explorer 5.5-7.0 (6.0 recommended)
- Minimum Hardware: 400 Mhz processor, 128 MB RAM, 10 MB free disk space, and an Internet connection
To run SiteAdvisor with Firefox:
- Operating System: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista, Linux and Mac OS X
- Web Browser: Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7 and 1.5 (1.5 recommended)
- Minimum Hardware: 400 Mhz processor, 128 MB RAM, 5 MB free disk space, and an Internet connection
Q Will SiteAdvisor work on my Macintosh or Linux?
A Yes, there is a SiteAdvisor plug-in available for the Firefox browser on Macintosh or Linux at http://us.mcafee.com/root/product.asp?productid=sa. There is currently no support for the Opera browser.
Q Can I use SiteAdvisor at home?
The answer is yes! SiteAdvisor is a free tool that can be downloaded directly from McAfee's SiteAdvisor website at www.siteadvisor.com. Once you get used to using SiteAdvisor ratings when you surf the Internet, you'll soon depend on the ratings to help you decide which sites to visit and which sites to avoid.
There is a plug-in for both Internet Explorer and for Firefox if you use that at home.
Please note that Customer Support cannot support or help you with installing, using or troubleshooting SiteAdvisor at home.
Q Where can I get additional information on SiteAdvisor?
A For more information on how SiteAdvisor works, go to the SiteAdvisor site: http://www.siteadvisor.com.
A This is a case where you really want to be careful. One possibility is that the original "green" site, was recently hacked and now has code imbedded in it to redirect you to a malicious site that will attempt to breach your PC. You wouldn't know this was happening in the background, but because McAfee SiteAdvisor is aware of these malicious sites, it was able to warn you BEFORE being redirected to the malicious site.
For example, say you want to go to http://www.somewherethatssafe.com. When you attempt to go to that site as you've done in the past, instead of seeing their home page, you get the following warning:
This tells you that the initial page you attempted to go to (somewherethatssafe.com) was hacked and now contains a redirect to the site googlerank.info that McAfee blocked for you.
In this case, based on the fact that you KNOW you didn't want to go to googlerank.info, you wanted to go to somewherethatssafe.com, you do NOT want to override this warning and continue to the site. Best advice is to find another site to go to that has the info you want until the owner of the site fixes their website.
(Did you see how the hacker in the example above tried to make their site sound legit by naming it "googlerank.info"? This site is in no way connected to the company "Google, Inc." but most people probably wouldn't know that this is a well known hacker site in Russia.)
Q Who should I contact if I have questions about SiteAdvisor?
A For questions or problems with SiteAdvisor, contact Customer Support at 8-7995. Please note that they cannot assist with SiteAdvisor that has been installed on your home PC.
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