What is Digg?226 Comments
- rekrapt, on 10/12/2007, -8/+60I failed the test... so what... I never go to places like that anyway. P2P sucks... usenet rules... Smileys? Why would I want them? Screensavers? Puhleeze... I'm at my computer to work... not watch slideshows and fancy dancing graphics.
- CamZak, on 10/12/2007, -2/+51Interesting, but it seems stupid to judge if a site is okay on it's looks. Not something you want to encourage.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+47to me, it looked like every page had adware/spyware
i never go to ***** like that anyway, though - bkey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24Personally I was suprised that any of those sites weren't shady.
- durrty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19Anyone else notice Kazaa's "No Spyware" stamp on the screenshot of thier site? Ironic
- tominator1983, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16I got 6 out of 8. Not that it matters though, because this is one of the stupidest tests ever. Totally misleading and pointless.
You can't tell if a site is dangerous by the way it looks, like this test would make you think. And memorizing a list of all the dangerous sites won't help you much either, because new sites are constantly popping up.
Your best bet is to install your basic *safe* plugins like flash and java and what not and make sure that you don't have any random crap installed like search toolbars (except for google's bar, which is safe). Then turn your internet security settings up so activex objects don't automatically install. And no matter what, even if it means you can't download a crack or some pr0n from your favorite illigitimate site without clicking yes to some activex installation request, DO NOT allow it!!!!
I have been using internet explorer for over 6 years and I've only been infected by nonsense once. After that, I learned how to protect myself and I've been sailing clear ever since. I can visit the scariest ad sites out there and walk away unscathed now.
Oh yeah, and next time you download some "free" ad-supported software that infects your computer with spyware, don't blame it on microsoft or internet explorer. Blame it on yourself for being an idiot for thinking that things in life are free and made out of cotton candy.
Next time, maybe you'll run a virus scan on that crack file you downloaded, before you run it. - mattyG, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16thats why i use the site advisor extension for firefox
http://www.siteadvisor.com/download/ff_preinstall.html - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11i think that's half the point. you _can't_ judge a site based on looks. that's the scary thing about spyware and why siteadvisor is so great.
- trisomy21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Cam,
The site's not trying to encourage it. They're actually trying to discourage it by showing you it doesn't work.
From the site:
"They say it's hard to judge a book by its cover. We'd argue that it's even harder to judge the safety of a Web site by its looks...." - junkam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11According to a study, only 3% pass the test (found via slashdot) http://www.aviransplace.com/index.php/archives/2006/04/26/most-web-users-unable-to-spot-spyware/
- RexKwando, on 10/12/2007, -0/+86/8. I walk the "tightrope".
it's common sense really. if you think it is bad, there you go, it's bad. use your head. most people lack that skill on hte internets. - GuyOnOatmealBox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+96/8 for me....they tricked me on the lyrics site. I initially had checked the safe one until i saw the firefox popup warning and changed my vote.
- nstern2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+95/8. who still uses kazaa anyhow. You are just begging for adware/spyware if you do.
- mctk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9How am I supposed to tell if I'm not allowed to click around the site? Are their downloads zip's or exe's? How did I arrive at this site? What is it's google/yahoo pagerank? etc... silly test.
- jnmlmz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10Sites I would never visit in the first place..Not realistic
- BlindIrishman, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10Go to hell.
- kuhas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Pretty pointless test. Spotting spyware involves a lot more than seeing a screenshot of the site.
- cambrown99, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6You get 100% every time if you take the test with a Mac
- Ryetronics, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6What in the world is a smiley program anyways?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5How does one "sell" a Firefox extension? It's offered for free, and does a great service.
- Xepher, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7You catch the real trick though? If you read the "question" bit on that one, it says that one of the sites installed spyware via ActiveX... but their screenshots are of firefox. For those not in the know, firefox doesn't run ActiveX, only IE does. So in that case, BOTH were safe. Stupidest test ever.
- Gepetto, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I failed, and apparently I'm at risk. To what, I'm not sure, but I'm at risk.
- TedTschopp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+52/8 but I don't use screen savers, file sharing programs, or smily programs. And Why would I?
- bigpeeler, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Yeah, I failed it too.
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Spyware sites are easy to spot. If they offer a product or service that only idiots would want, then yes, it is a spyware site. That includes smilies, screen savers, toolbars, anything that goes on the notification bar, accelerators, anything with exclamation points in the pitch, lyrics sites, horoscopes, anything with "buddy" or "surf" in the name, etc.
- PhonicUK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+48/8
The point about not judging sites by their looks is invalid, the point is that there are tell-tale signs that indicate potential spyware/adware, for example the lyrics site - one had its popup advertising sucessfully blocked whereas the other was using a (far more harmfull) activex control (Which can be used in FFox win32 with the right extensions) Also while Kazaa genuinely doesn't contain any Spyware, it is bloated full of Adware which is rather different. Since all your average web user has to go on is what they can see I dont see how looking at a screenshot is any different for the purpose of this test. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You can't rely on those indicators any more.
A while ago, perhaps. But not now. Just look at some of the very well crafted phishing sites, complete with 'support' and 'FAQ' links. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+125/8 not bad, but it doesn't matter, I use Ubuntu
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I work for SiteAdvisor.com
So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies.
Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about.
But trust me.... You don't.
I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you dont know what you are talking about.
This is how bad info gets passed around.
If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do.
Cuz some Diggers belive anything they hear. - benhocking, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Good point. People who are actually at risk probably score better because they've made enough stupid mistakes to learn some rules of thumb. Those of us who wouldn't visit any of these sites don't need to know how to distinguish the good from the bad. Of course, maybe I'm just saying that because I got 2/8.
- stevester, on 10/12/2007, -0/+36/8 also. never tried blubster. guess i am not going to either
- mikeazorin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is a really bad test. If you can tell if website has spyware bundled programs just by looking at it's homepage, then you have some serious skills. I mean, Kazaa, duh, but anything else was just a lucky guess. Smiley websites are always iffy, and so are most closed source filesharing programs.
- chesterjosiah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I scored 7 out of 8 as well. I wish that when you submitted your answers, they gave an explanation as to how you could've spotted something that hinted at software bundling or active x installs.
- Jathan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Maybe they should have updated firefox for safer browsing when they put this little test together.
http://www.siteadvisor.com/quizzes/images/q1bLrg.jpg
I mean come on, it's a huge red arrow in the corner, how can you miss your browser updates? - V-Spec, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2sigh this test is utterly useless. people need to be educated on what spyware is and how it gets to your computer.
If activex spawn asking you to install you say no and goto anothe site.... If the download exe askes you to install something that you dont know by some random company, dont install it, delete it and move on.
run the spyware checkers like adaware and spybot regularly to remove tracking cookies. easy as that
that test has 2 sites, quite similar and asks, which one has the activex.... who the ***** would know? when it pops up at the top people would.... - mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2yeah, it's clean and has no ads. that was a difficult one.
- Bluezdood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26 out of 8 correct, and I use Firefox (so no ActiveX problems) and Azureus, so no P2P software. I'm cool. They can take their site advisor and shove it.
- Bluezdood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Teeny pirates = extremely little folk that go around saying "Arrrr matey!" all day ;-)
- gumpy5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Same here
...it had such a clean design, how could it be evil? - athenius22, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I like how everyone puts their score up as if they have something to prove. After 200 people do it, do you need to do it too? Really?
Congratulations if you've actually taken the time to read down to this comment. - retral, on 10/12/2007, -7/+9"YOU GOT 8 OF 8 QUESTIONS CORRECT Rating: Safety Guru"
I guess I'm part of the 3%, though.. since we're most likely all geeks, I bet the % of us that get a 'passing' score on this test would be much higher if sampled from the general public.
Anyways, with firefox, activex isn't applicable, so yeah, there's not much to worry about (as for downloads, it's pretty easy to determine what's clean and what's not.) - MadOgre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If its for Windows... its spyware.
- 4degrees, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2gots me a 6 out of 8. the only thing that doesnt sit right with me, is when you look at the results it doesnt tell you why its a spyware site, and doesnt tell you HOW to recognize this, just tells you you were right or wrong, with no education on the subject... horse *****.
- Takteek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2And why exactly should it say that? Siteadvisor doesn't have any activeX controls....
- YourTechSupport, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I developed a good sense for ***** over the years.
As for the p2pware, it's usually full of spyware if the teeny-pirate crowd uses it. - zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The only sets I got right was the P2P ones as I use emule and have testing all the other P2P apps.
I never download Screen Savers, Smiles, Animated icons and other crapware.
1) You don't need it.
2) Its either trying to put you on a spammers mailing list or it's trying to put spyware on your computer.
popup: Boink, I noticed you trying to get some work done would you like to buy a crappy product from an untrustworthy vendor? - DFchoke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You spelled "you're" wrong stupid.
- CryingWolf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ok, lets try this, First use Firefox! Don't download crap unless you know what is it, including their own program. I wouldn't even put in my Firefox!
- dielawn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25/8....only thing is you get just a screenshot, kinda hard to tell with only half of one page.
- thewebguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3the site was used by mccaffee i believe to push their products.
it's completely random, you can't judge those sites by looking at that simply. you just have to know not to download stupid ass stuff like smiley packs, and to run a GOOD virus program (like avg, not mcaffee or norton, i.e. annoyingware) -
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