New Year’s Resolution: Practice Safe Search

It’s dangerous territory out there in online search land. In a “tech toys” category, type in “ipod nano,” “mp3 music downloads” and “winmx,” and nearly a quarter of the search results could lead you to a site with unsavory practices—so says a study from McAfee SiteAdvisor .

As reported in various news outlets including Yahoo!Finance, the study suggests that search engine users continue to be at significant risk of clicking through to sites that can compromise their online safety.

McAfee SiteAdvisor, a free download for users of the FireFox browser, adds a red, yellow or green rating to your search results.

Do a search and see a red icon? Chances are that site has failed one or more of McAfee’s tests for adware, spyware, viruses, exploits, spam, pop ups or affiliations of other “red” sites.

So let’s be careful out there and make it a resolution to practice “safe search” in the new year.