SiteAdvisor Plus: Adding Teeth to the Web’s Most Popular Safe Search Tool

We have some big news to share today. McAfee is launching an enhanced, premium version of our safe search tool called SiteAdvisor Plus.

SiteAdvisor Plus extends and enhances our core safe search and safe surfing functionality in three ways: by adding link checking to instant messages and e-mail, by adding a protected mode that shields PCs from interacting with risky sites, and by adding real-time anti-phishing protection.

What’s New

Link Checker: McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus checks links embedded in e-mail and instant messages, warning consumers before they make a bad click decision. Worldwide, more than 170 billion e-mails and more than 14 billion instant messages are sent per day. In today’s world of drive-by attacks, during which a single click can ruin a computer, it’s important for consumers to know in advance whether a link contained in an e-mail or IM is safe or not.

McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus supports a broad range of instant messaging and e-mail platforms including Yahoo! Messenger (Y!M), Windows Live Messenger (MSM), Google Talk, Outlook, Outlook Express, Yahoo! Mail and Microsoft Live Mail (Hotmail), and Gmail. Support for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and AOL Mail is under development.

Protected Mode: Protected Mode enforces SiteAdvisor’s safety ratings by redirecting consumers to a safe page anytime their computer is about to interact with a risky site, whether through searching, browsing, instant messaging or e-mailing. This feature provides critical protection for heavy Internet users, households that share computers with younger or less Web-savvy users, or anyone who desires “load and go” protection. Protected Mode is password protected, enabling parents or other computer administrators to control this feature.

Protected Mode grays out risky results

Advanced Phishing/Scam Detection: McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus combines advanced, real-time “phishing” detection with its one-of-a-kind site database to detect and provide early warnings against scam sites that can compromise consumers’ identities and ruin their computers. This is a critical benefit, since scam and phishing sites now use increasingly sophisticated technology and social engineering tactics to fool even the most savvy consumers.

Real-time anti-phishing uses SiteAdvisor’s white list to improve accuracy

How Much Does It Cost?

SiteAdvisor Plus offers a household pack (for 3 computers) for $49.99 and a 1-user option for $24.99. Both subscriptions are good for a year and include all the new features.

Where Can You Buy It?

SiteAdvisor Plus is available on the McAfee site starting Tuesday, November 7.

What’s Next for SiteAdvisor Plus?

Adding link checking support for AIM is a top short-term priority. Integration with the AIM client presents some significant engineering challenges and we felt it was better to offer instant messaging protection now to the tens of millions of consumers who use other popular instant messaging clients rather than wait.

Also a top priority: support for Firefox. Again, we made the call that it was better to offer SiteAdvisor Plus to our many Internet Explorer users who can benefit from added protection now.

What’s Staying the Same

SiteAdvisor’s basic version will remain free and will keep the same features it currently has. Our commitment to accuracy will continue as will our transparency about our test results. More than 250 million times per day, McAfee customers ask for our site ratings to help them make better Web safety decisions. We’ve worked hard to earn that trust and reliance and will continue to work to make it safer to search, browse and transact on the Web.