Spyware, viruses, & security : How about: SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz
- 3/15/06 12:31 PM
It means "No Text" [NT] ;)
by BlazeEagle - 6/17/06 7:35 PM In reply to: Quick Question by kegizsftzpnt
Ohhhh! I Goofed!!
by MarkFlax - 3/20/06 10:58 AM
In reply to: How about: SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz by Marianna Schmudlach
I goofed on 2.
I thought Bearshare was safe, and I got the lyrics site wrong, (but I have an excuse for that! 
I thought as Firefox had blocked a popup, that it was attempting to download an ActiveX or something, so I chose that site as the bad one).
Back to school for me.
Mark
No excuses Mark..
by Carol~ - 3/20/06 3:24 PM
In reply to: Ohhhh! I Goofed!! by MarkFlax
LOL I thought that one was a ''set up''.. and they were trying to ''trick us''! That's the only reason I did get it right! A smart guy like you.. falling for such a trick. Shame on you! 
Carol
(Btw.. hi!)
Gullible
by MarkFlax - 3/21/06 1:37 AM
In reply to: No excuses Mark.. by Carol~
Hi Carol. I hope you are well.
Gullible! Thats me all over!
Mark
Best advice?
by hawk318 - 3/24/06 3:49 AM In reply to: How about: SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz by Marianna Schmudlach
Not sure about a sites safety? How about the software? Try this little trick; Don't download anything unless you know the site/ software is safe.
If you do decide to "try" something from an unknown or new site. Make sure you AV is up to date.
Download the item you want to try (your AV should check it as it downloads).
If it is "zipped" unzip it and run another AV scan before you install it.
Turn off your internet connection if possible. This prevents the software from doing anything like downloading spyware or viruses during the installation process itself.
Next once it's installed run it! Assuming your AV & firewall is up to date and running properly, you should be safe (at least for a while)
At this point if you're still feeling a bit unsure, run a full system virus scan, then run at least 2 spyware utilities. I aways recommend these freeware utilities Spybot Search & destroy as well as Lavasoft's AdAware.
Why? Well in the past some clever virus writers have actually created viruses that are in pieces and undetectible until the software was installed. During the installation the virus was basically assembled on your PC.
Remember it is just how safe you want to be. The above is a lot of time, but then so it reformatting your hard drive and reinstalling everything that was on it.
I even knew one guy that once a virus trashed his system and he reformatted it. He actually reinstalled the program that had the virus in it thinking it was safe as he had reformatted..... Not!
One last thing to think about. I read somewhaere that over 95% of viruses and 98% of spyware are installed and activated by the PC's user!
Highly doubtful...
by Julie Allen - 3/24/06 3:56 AM In reply to: Best advice? by hawk318that I would even go to any of those websites let alone d/l anything off them. They all looked fishy imo.
The only one I was even familar with is Kazaa and I don't even play with that anymore.
Unknown websites are always risky.
by brennandh - 3/24/06 4:52 AM In reply to: How about: SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz by Marianna Schmudlach
I would rather get recommendations from friends before I go to a particular website. It is always a precautionary measure to seek your friend's suggestions & tips with their vast experiences from these websites.
Why would I download any of it?
by Jelly Baby - 3/24/06 11:58 AM In reply to: How about: SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz by Marianna Schmudlach
What a load of nonsense - Why on earth would I ever download anything from any of these sights - safe or not!!
"Ahh your PC doesn't work - downloaded the dolphin screensaver the other day - how surprising" is an almost daily converstaion thread. When will people learn that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
And as for iTunes.......
No Explanation How to Spot Unsafe Sites
by markatger - 3/24/06 2:39 PM In reply to: How about: SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz by Marianna Schmudlach
Unless I missed it, after taking the test and getting your score, there was absolutely no education on how you were supposed to tell which ones were safe or unsafe. It only had a link to their site reports which described how bad the site was.
But again, no info on how all you safety gurus could tell which ones were bad just from looking at them.
Argghh...thanks for nothing...well maybe not nothing I guess learning about SiteAdvisor service was kind of interesting....Anyone download and using it?
I looked up a few sites and was a little suprised by their results. For example I have heard people complain about RealPlayer an Quicktime being loaded with adware. But they gave them a green check. Maybe they just aren't as bad as some of the nasties out there.
I have been...
by Eskiegirl302 - 3/28/06 5:17 PM In reply to: No Explanation How to Spot Unsafe Sites by markatgerUsing it for quite some time now. When you do a search on google, this software will put a red X, or a green or yellow check mark next to it. Site Advisor test sites for things which would or would not be safe, ie; adware, downloads, spam ect. and will let you know. I feel a bit safer with it as these people tried it first (whew) and I get the lowdown on it. Sometimes you will get the html that says not tested. So you can go there but it is purely your fault if your puter gets sick. However I also run Firefox and I have yet to be bothered by adware, spyware, worms and viruses. This is in a large part due to CNET. Thankyou very much. But I do use security programs if nothing else to see how they are. I like my blue frog spam tool too. This is cool. Anyway, I am keeping site advisor.
(NT) 5 of 8.not bad for no experience
by tomron - 3/24/06 4:54 PM In reply to: How about: SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz by Marianna Schmudlach
About Siteadvisor
by BlazeEagle - 3/26/06 9:55 PM In reply to: How about: SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz by Marianna Schmudlach
It installs software that watches the sites you visit and tells you if they're "safe" or not.
Yes, they tell you this on their site, but I feel uneasy about a site watching the sites I visit. Plus, it may lower your web browsing speed because it checks out the sites while you browse.
I may be confused a bit, but I doubt it. I'm just letting the people know what Siteadvisor does.
Haven't seen it slow down the speed in browing.
by Donna Buenaventura - 3/26/06 11:18 PM
In reply to: About Siteadvisor by BlazeEagle
Been using SiteAdvisor for sometime now and have not notice any slow issue in browsing and/or launching the browser.
For users who do not want to install SiteAdvisor, they can visit http://www.siteadvisor.com/analysis/ and enter the site address manually (i.e. cnet.com) to find out what is the analysis of SiteAdvisor.
SiteAdvisor doesn't protect users but will only show their analysis. It's still up to the user whether they'll proceed or not
Strange, it does for me[text]
by BlazeEagle - 4/11/06 8:06 PM In reply to: Haven't seen it slow down the speed in browing. by Donna Buenaventura
What all is running while you surf the web? I ask because it'll help me see if something on my PC may cause issues with SiteAdvisor.
8/8
by NWRCS - 3/28/06 5:33 PM In reply to: How about: SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz by Marianna Schmudlach
You have to know where to look and how to interpret.
That said, I would never, ever download a screen saver, lyrics, or most of that other stuff.
Even if it checked out okay.
Computers are a tool, like I'd not use a Crescent as a Hammer.....
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
