McAfee SiteAdvisor review

The government isn't the only one with lessons to learn from recent data disasters: all of us should re-assess how seriously we take data security on a personal level.

Unfortunately, the installation of computer-compromising and data-stealing trojans is the most common kind of infection you'll pick up when link-clicking, downloading and practising unsafe surfing.

McAfee SiteAdvisor is a free download for Firefox and Internet Explorer, and it leaves other antiphishing toolbars in the shade by being both unobtrusive and informative.

Perform a Google search and it uses traffic light ticks to warn of the status of a link before you visit: hover over the tick and a balloon appears with more detail; click the balloon to visit the McAfee site for the comprehensive analysis of dangers such as spam email delivery, infected downloads and dodgy affiliate links.

The same traffic light principle is applied within the browser itself whenever you visit a site.

It's a quick and effective way to avoid heading to dodgy sites, and a Recommended download to everyone.

Author: Davey Winder