First thing I thought was “about bloody time!”. Yahoo! and McAfee have partnered up to provide integrated search security on the results pages, they call it “Search Scan“. The result is prominent warnings at the top of the page and next to the offending link with a “hover” for details. However sites that have browser exploits and drive-by downloads as identified by McAfee will not even appear in the results. The remaining “bad” links are those that:

• have files in which there may be spyware, viruses (no difference in my mind) or potentially harmful applications
• send unsolicited email or share your email address with 3rd parties without your consent

This image was altered to protect people from themselves

According to Yahoo this is in direct response to users stating that security and privacy are the top concern for users when online. Thoughtful of Yahoo to also include the two extremes in your preferences you can select to turn the feature completely off and have zero filtering. Secondly you can select the search results to totally remove any link with a warning. Nice one Yahoo.

I would add to that that if people are that concerned about their privacy and security they should do something about it. While this is a good move by Yahoo and wise, it only serves to protect the stupid and for them there is probably no hope anyway. I have been taking advantage of Site Advisor for about 2 years now. It is available as an extension for Firefox and *cough* IE. Users need to be proactive about their security and privacy and yeah it takes a bit of effort to do so; but so does locking your car. I am glad if only it adds some protection for the rest of us that do put the effort into keeping ourselves clean and private.

I am not about to knock these features, it is a great thing and helps to protect users from themselves. If you are a “bit” serious about your security and privacy then these are my quick tips:

1. Don’t use Internet Explorer: sorry but it remains one of the primary vectors for malicious software on the web
2. Install a decent anti-virus: I use Avast! and set it to update automatically.
3. Have a decent Firewall: I use ZoneAlarm Pro, but also highly recommend Comodo Firewall
4. Install Site Advisor: Gives you the same features that are at Yahoo! across all the major search engines. One of my “can’t live without” extensions. It becomes automatic to check it.
5. Don’t click links in IM and email: If you don’t know where it goes and you don’t know the sender then don’t click it, simple
6. Don’t open unknown email attachments: The promise of a Paris tit-fest is a lure you idiot, so wipe the surprised look off your face when your newly installed decent Anti-virus is screaming at you that it has found a nasty thing on your computer
7. Click Ctrl + Alt + Del Once in a while at start-up: learn what all those weird apps are that start when your computer does, a search on Google will be helpful and there are some great search engines dedicated to the cause, like ProcessLibrary. Then you’ll start to recognize when something might be there that should not be.
8. Check the SSL Cert: When your shopping online take the time to take advantage of that “View Certificate” in Firefox and make sure that the domain matches the site and that the certificate is valid and not expired. Piece of mind is a good thing.
9. Common sense: Yes plain and simple THINK! Use your head and think, think think - Whinnie the Pooh does it now you have a go. If it does not add up then it probably doesn’t! Looks dodgy? Probably is! Simple eh? So why don’t users do it?
10. Keep your system and software patched: this includes all your apps/OS and your online stuff like that install of WordPress with your precious blog on it. If you are using old software versions and platforms, don’t be surprised when you wake up to check your blog stats and you see a giant ad for penis enlargements or the Russian hackers association!

These are just a few things off the top of my head that I do daily, there are more but I thought 10 was a good number to stop at. I am constantly thinking about security you can not be any other way and be a part of the web and have a clean PC and intact privacy. Not to mention the fact that the whole penis enlargement thing woudl be hard to explain to your boss.

I got burned once with a zero day virus. A particularly nasty drive-by one that wrote to my boot sector. I lost everything. But I learned a great deal and swore that it would never happen again. I got serious about my security and taught myself to get with the program.

Oh and back-up, back-up, back-up… cause sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do something borks.

Let us know in the comments your tips on what you do to protect your security and privacy.

Don’t use IE, please… Doug! talk’in to you buddy!!

via: Yahoo! Search Blog

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 9:54 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.