Free extension for secure browsing

The h-online browser check isn't harmful, it only demonstrates if a user is vulnerable. Nevertheless, Finjan classifies it as potentially harmful. A free browser extension from anti-virus manufacturer Finjan for Internet Explorer and Firefox, called SecureBrowsing, alerts users of potentially dangerous links in Google Search and other popular sites and online portals. The add-on marks links using three different colour icons. Green lets users know that the page should be safe for browsing, yellow indicates that the page is not available for scanning and red advises users that the page contains "potential spyware behavior". Links to popular services including Twitter, MySpace, Digg and Slashdot, as well as online mail services such as GMail, Yahoo and Hotmail are also verified. Shortened URLs, like those found on the popular Twitter microblogging service, from sites like TinyURL and Cligs, are checked and labeled with the applicable icon.

The Finjan add-on does not scan all of the Twitter links. Unlike other similar browser add-ons, SecureBrowsing is not, for example, based on the reputation of a page, or on information from another provider. Rather, each link is individually scanned for potentially hazardous content. Finjan uses its own behaviour analysis and the add-on only searches the HTML code itself, not any additional files that may be available to download that could also lead to a possible malware or virus infection. When the analysis takes place, the add-on displays a pending icon for each link. It may take a few seconds for all of the URLs on the page to be analysed.

In a short test using Google, it proved hard to find pages that Finjan SecureBrowsing flagged as having potential spyware behavior. According to McAfee, using search terms such as "screensaver", "free music download" and "bebo" should have lead to several flagged pages. When using Twitter, SecureBrowsing did mark several of the shortened URLs, but did not scan the ones that appeared after selecting "more" to display additional Tweets.

See also:

• Study says searching for screen savers frequently leads to danger, a report from The H.

(crve)