McAfee SiteAdvisor
Encyclopedia
SiteAdvisor is a service that reports on the safety of web sites by crawling
the web and testing the sites it finds for malware
and spam
. The service was originally developed by SiteAdvisor, Inc, an MIT startup first introduced at CodeCon
on February 10, 2006 and later acquired by McAfee
on April 5, 2006. Since its founding, it has received criticism for its improper rating of some sites, and more importantly the length of time it takes to resolve complaints. McAfee's own materials indicate that it takes ten days to address an incorrect site rating. Further, through their agreement with Yahoo, updates to Yahoo search results do not occur for up to four weeks after the site rating change (according to McAfee email).
Yahoo, who uses the McAfee SiteAdvisor rating in their search results, does not get the rating change for another 4 weeks. It is unclear if rating changes in either direction take this long, or only corrections (RED to GREEN). Yellow is rarely, if ever, used.
(e.g. FreeCreditReport.com
) can be rated GREEN. This exposes the user to financial risk, despite being protected from malware.
website reputation organisation, to act as something like a 'cloud' intelligence software to get the most up-to-date information on websites as possible, very similar to McAfee's Active Protection(Artemis) system. The details of this system are not known.
Web crawler
A Web crawler is a computer program that browses the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner or in an orderly fashion. Other terms for Web crawlers are ants, automatic indexers, bots, Web spiders, Web robots, or—especially in the FOAF community—Web scutters.This process is called Web...
the web and testing the sites it finds for malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
and spam
E-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
. The service was originally developed by SiteAdvisor, Inc, an MIT startup first introduced at CodeCon
CodeCon
CodeCon was an annual conference for hackers and technology enthusiasts, held every year between 2002 and 2009. CodeCon was not intended to be a computer security conference, but a conference with a focus on developers doing presentations of technologies, rather than products.-History:Bram Cohen...
on February 10, 2006 and later acquired by McAfee
McAfee
McAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...
on April 5, 2006. Since its founding, it has received criticism for its improper rating of some sites, and more importantly the length of time it takes to resolve complaints. McAfee's own materials indicate that it takes ten days to address an incorrect site rating. Further, through their agreement with Yahoo, updates to Yahoo search results do not occur for up to four weeks after the site rating change (according to McAfee email).
SiteAdvisor Plus
A paid version of McAfee SiteAdvisor, McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus, has extra features. The functionality of SiteAdvisor can be accessed either through a Browser Plugin or by submitting a URL to the website. In addition to selling to the end consumers, McAfee also sells to the web site owners with their McAfee Secure program.Total Exposure
As of Dec 2010, McAfee Secure marketing materials say there are 350 million installs of McAfee SiteAdvisor, and a likely much larger viewer base with search engine agreements such as that with Yahoo.Extra features of McAfee SiteAdvisor
- Rates email and IM links
- Indicates sites potentially harmful to your computer
- Alerts users to possible phishing and identity theft scams
- Redirects you away from red and yellow sites (if protected mode is enabled).
False positives
SiteAdvisor has received criticism for incorrectly flagging web sites with a caution or warning label.False negatives
The very nature of SiteAdvisor and the long periods between site crawls mean that even if the SiteAdvisor tests were 100% accurate a Green rating offers no guarantee of safety. Malicious code and browser exploits often spread fast over large numbers of websites, meaning a Green rating may not be up to date and may provide a false sense of security.Communication and accountability
In the event of a positive result website owners are not contacted. Although a dispute resolution service does exist, the final decision rests with McAfee. In the event that a perceived threat is removed from a site the site's rating will return to Green through a process called 'ageingout'. Depending on the nature of the threat this process can take from 10 days to a year after the site is re-crawled, no strict timetable is provided.Yahoo, who uses the McAfee SiteAdvisor rating in their search results, does not get the rating change for another 4 weeks. It is unclear if rating changes in either direction take this long, or only corrections (RED to GREEN). Yellow is rarely, if ever, used.
No ratings on business practices
SiteAdvisor only rates sites based on the risk of malware or spam. Business practices and user reviews are not rated. So sites with D or worse ratings at the Better Business BureauBetter Business Bureau
The Better Business Bureau , founded in 1912, is a corporation consisting of several private business franchises of local BBB organizations based in the United States and Canada, which work through their parent corporation, the Council of Better Business Bureaus .The Better Business Bureau, through...
(e.g. FreeCreditReport.com
FreeCreditReport.com
FreeCreditScore.com and FreeCreditReport.com are websites owned by Experian Consumer Direct, a subsidiary of the credit bureau Experian. The sites offer users their personal credit reports from Experian on the condition that they sign up for Experian's Triple Advantage credit monitoring program for...
) can be rated GREEN. This exposes the user to financial risk, despite being protected from malware.
McAfee Secure
This program 'certifies' a web site so that it can show the McAfee certified logo, and also get a GREEN rating beside search results (according to their marketing materials). The McAfee Secure program has come under criticism for high pressure sales tactics, high and variable cost, and unsolicited phone calls.TrustedSource
McAfee SiteAdvisor now makes use of the TrustedSourceTrustedSource
TrustedSource is an Internet reputation system originally developed by CipherTrust and now owned by McAfee. It provides reputation scores for Internet identities, such as IP addresses, URLs, domains, and email/web content....
website reputation organisation, to act as something like a 'cloud' intelligence software to get the most up-to-date information on websites as possible, very similar to McAfee's Active Protection(Artemis) system. The details of this system are not known.
Awards
- Time magazineTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
named SiteAdvisor.com among the 50 coolest websites of 2006. - Popular SciencePopular SciencePopular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
awarded SiteAdvisor the "Best of What's New" award in the Computing category for 2006. - PC WorldPC World (magazine)PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...
ranked SiteAdvisor at #15 in "The 100 Best Products of 2007."
External links
- Examples of SiteAdvisor reports: