Help
My inquiry here may sound "off-the-wall" or unworthy of a response, but I will ask anyway. (Please pardon me if I posted in the wrong sub-forum).
As most every Internet user is aware, when you view a list of search results, you will usually see one or more site reputation rating icons (e.g. Avast, McAfee, and WOT), which supposedly provide some indication of the site's reputation (e.g. customer service experience, vendor reliability, trustworthiness, and whether or not the site is known for scams, like phishing, spamming, viruses, & other malware). Some anti-malware programs will also warn about a potentially malicious site as well.
There are other sites, such as, hphosts which can provide some limited info as well.
My question is this: Are there any fairly-effective methods or techniques available for genuinely ascertaining whether or not a website is considered reasonably safe to visit and/or conduct any activity on (e.g. pc game download sites).
I see so much conflicting information, it is just mind-boggling. For example, a website may show a green WOT icon, green McAfee icon, and no Avast rep icon. Yet, when I check the website name (for example) through the hphosts site, I may get red high risk indicators! With such totally different info...how is a user to begin to decide if a site is even remotely safe to visit?
My impression at this point is there doesn't seem to be ANY really reliable method available to adequately help an Internet user avoid risky Internet sites.
Any additional suggestions/recommendations would indeed be most welcome, and thank you for your time and help!
Happy Holidays to everyone too!
This post has been edited by spc3rd: 23 December 2011 - 10:00 PM
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