{"id":2618,"date":"2011-08-13T08:45:02","date_gmt":"2011-08-13T12:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=2618"},"modified":"2011-08-13T08:45:02","modified_gmt":"2011-08-13T12:45:02","slug":"pat-asks-what-about-norton-safe-web","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/pat-asks-what-about-norton-safe-web\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat asks “What about Norton Safe Web?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pat asks about Norton Safe Web<\/strong>
\nCan you tell me anything about “Norton Safe Web”? From what I’ve \t\t\tread it seems to be similar to WOT or MacAfee Site Advisor. From \t\t\twhat you’ve told us about those two programs I’m wondering if this \t\t\tis the same thing. Also I’m not sure if I trust anything “Norton”! \t\t\tThanks for your consideration on this and for all you do for all of \t\t\tus. Pat<\/p>\n

Our answer<\/strong>
\nHi Pat…and thanks. There’s no end to this “safe surfing” elixir \t\t\tmarket. The snake oil salesmen have returned from dust-bowl American \t\t\tand are once again selling (ostensibly giving away) free magic \t\t\telixirs to quell every fear and calm every nerve. Why if you install \t\t\tNorton Safe Web you can venture off into the unknown reaches of the \t\t\tInternet in complete safety knowing that you’ve had your dose of \t\t\tsafe-surfing elixir today. Step right up and get your free bottle of \t\t\tNorton (WOT, MacAfee, etc.) elixir and rid yourself of worry!<\/p>\n

WOT and Norton Safe Web are based on the mass-rating \t\t\tphenomena that WOT started several years ago. The problem is that \t\t\tcommunity-based ratings sound really good, but they’re really bad, \t\t\tbecause the people doing the rating ain’t no smarter than you or I. \t\t\tIn fact, they may well be dumber than you or I – or they may be \t\t\tposting automated ratings by the thousands – just to see their name \t\t\tor nickname in lights. It’s a pretty barren life when your \t\t\tself-worth is determined by a platinum award from WOT for posting \t\t\t100,000 site reviews in 30 days.<\/p>\n

This is what Norton Safe Web has to say:<\/p>\n

“Everyone knows that the Internet is huge, there are many \t\t\tonline threats like viruses, phishing, and spyware, and there’s a \t\t\tlot of unsavory Web sites out there\u2014Web sites that will try to \t\t\tdeceive you, steal your credit card numbers or passwords, or even \t\t\tcrash your computer. By the time you visit a Web site it’s usually \t\t\ttoo late The damage has been done, you’ve been had. So, how can you \t\t\tfind out if a Web site is a safety risk before you visit it?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

The answer is right here!<\/p>\n

Norton Safe Web is a new reputation service from Symantec. Our \t\t\tservers analyze Web sites to see how they will affect you and your \t\t\tcomputer. Then, using the Norton Toolbar installed on your PC, we \t\t\tlet you know how safe a particular Web site might be before you view \t\t\tit. If you need to find out more about how a Web site might behave, \t\t\twe provide more detailed information right here on Norton Safe \t\t\tWeb….”<\/em><\/p>\n

You have all the tools you need at your disposal for safe \t\t\tsurfing. You don’t need to depend on a frenzied community of \t\t\tattention-starved yaks (WOT’s community has less than 100 member– \t\t\tout of “millions”– who make over 50% of the site reviews). You \t\t\tdon’t need to install a browser toolbar or join a community or put\u00a0 \t\t\tyourself in a position where you’ve given Norton or McAfee your \t\t\temail address and therefore have to withstand all the aggressive \t\t\tmarketing emails offering you 50% of Norton 360 or McAfee. Or WOT’s \t\t\tinsistence on the wonders of Panda security software.\u00a0 All you \t\t\tneed is the following:<\/p>\n

1. Your common sense
\n2. An updated Web browser
\n3. A good, constantly updated anti-virus program
\n4. A good, constantly updated anti-spyware program
\n5. Your favorite search engine
\n6. Pay attention when you install software – read each dialog and \t\t\tuncheck any sneaky programs the installer might want to install.<\/p>\n

That’s all you need. Your common sense is #1. Always make sure \t\t\tyou’re using the latest version of Internet Explorer, Firefox, \t\t\tChrome, Opera, Safari – or whatever browser you choose. Keep your \t\t\tanti-virus and anti-spyware updated. If you have a question about a \t\t\tproduct or service – if something seems amiss – google it (or use \t\t\tyour favorite search engine and search it).<\/p>\n

You don’t need communities of people to tell you what’s safe and \t\t\twhat’s not safe. Norton Safe Web would be preferable to WOT, but you \t\t\tdon’t need either one. You don’t need a “safe-surfing toolbar” at \t\t\tall. You don’t need that magic elixir that promises to save you from \t\t\tthe pits of Hades. Using these toolbars will keep you from some good \t\t\tsites too. It’s censorship. And like all censorship it is bad. Web \t\t\tfiltering is the same as spam filtering – you’re letting someone \t\t\telse determine what is good for you and what is bad for you.<\/p>\n

Don’t add things to your computer you don’t need. Don’t allow \t\t\tcensorship toolbars to control where you go on the Web or what you \t\t\tdownload. You’re smart and you have all the tools you need to make \t\t\tthe right choices. Trust yourself, not some anonymous community \t\t\twhose credentials are unknown.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pat asks about Norton Safe Web Can you tell me anything about “Norton Safe Web”? From what I’ve read it seems to be similar to WOT or MacAfee Site Advisor. From what you’ve told us about those two programs I’m wondering if this is the same thing. Also I’m not sure if I trust anything “Norton”! Thanks for\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2618"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2618"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2620,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2618\/revisions\/2620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}