With the massive onslaught of phishing scams and other online cons we need all the help we can find to stay safe whilst we're browsing the internet.
To help with this there are several addons for browsers, which will warn you if you visit a site which may be harmful to your computer. Choosing one is very much a matter of whichever you like best, but to help you get started here are some we've tried out so far (all are or have free versions):
Site Advisor http://www.siteadvisor.com/"With SiteAdvisor software installed, your browser will look a little different than before. We add small site rating icons to your search results as well as a browser button and optional search box. Together, these alert you to potentially risky sites and help you find safer alternatives. These site ratings are based on tests conducted by McAfee using an army of computers that look for all kinds of threats (detailed below). The result is a guide to Web safety."
Web of Trust http://www.mywot.com/"WOT is a free Internet security addon for your browser. It will keep you safe from online scams, identity theft, spyware, spam, viruses and unreliable shopping sites. WOT warns you before you interact with a risky website. It's easy and it's free."
Netcraft Toolbar http://toolbar.netcraft.com/"The Toolbar community is effectively a giant neighbourhood watch scheme, empowering the most alert and most expert members to defend everyone within the community against phishing attacks. Once the first recipients of a phishing mail have reported the target URL, it is blocked for community members as they subsequently access the URL. Widely disseminated attacks (people who construct phishing attacks send literally millions of emails in the expectation that some will reach customers of the bank) simply mean that the phishing attack will be reported and blocked sooner. "
