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Since Grisoft, the company that makes the popular free anti-virus software AVG, stopped supporting updates for version 7 of their software, I made the plunge and downloaded the upgrade to version 8 a few days ago. I hadn’t really noticed any differences in the new version (one of the best things about AVG is that you never really notice it’s there, unless it’s updating), but today I started wondering about what I initially thought was a new feature in Google: some weird green stars that appeared next to my search results:

After a while, I got curious and moused-over one of them. Turns out they’re a feature of AVG’s software, not Google’s site, called LinkChecker. It basically analyzes sites for potential mal- or spy-ware content, then rates them as either a red X, yellow !, or green star. Since I’d only seen green stars so far, I did a quick search for ‘warez,’ which is guaranteed to get you crap every time. Sure enough, the picture was a little different:

I’m not really sure about the diagnosis of some of the sites as ‘Risky’–they seemed pretty much to be categorized as such merely because they were ‘Cracks’ sites–but then again, I kind of had the same assumption based on my choice of search term. Most importantly, I haven’t noticed any performance change in Firefox. If the page doesn’t load quickly enough, a throbber simply takes the place of a rating until it can be returned. You can click through to any page without having to wait. All in all, a pretty nice feature.

Are You an Internet Security Wizard?

I am. The proof is to the left of this text. The latest sponsored review to come my way was for an online Security Quiz that purports to test your knowledge of computer security-related terminology and practice.

The quiz itself is pretty tough, both because it asks a variety of decent questions on things like firewalls and phishing, and because it features questions phrased like “Which of the following is NOT…” with a ‘None of the above’ answer choice (does that mean ‘all of the above’ ARE?). There are also quite a few spelling and grammar errors in the questions, which added to the ambiguity factor.

There was no area of knowledge on the quiz that I, as a support technician at a university, felt that I didn’t know, but at the end, I apparently got a 19 out of 30 (hence the Warlock classification). I’m not blaming the questions entirely, but I will say some of them were very confusing in the way they were posed.

Anyway, the test is obviously part of a larger website, into which you are funnelled once you complete the quiz, if you choose to click a link to sign up for Agnitum’s newsletter. Agnitum’s main product is the Outpost Security Suite, which purports to be a one-stop-shop for all your anti-spyware, -malware, and -virus needs. Judging by some of the leading questions in the security quiz (”What makes most virus software slow down your computer?” type questions), the folks at Agnitum believe they have a lighter-weight and better PC protection suite than most of the big names out there right now. The software starts at $49.95 for a single-user home license, and they offer enterprise and business pricing, in addition to some family packs and other options for home users.

antivirus, anti virus, malware, spyware, agnitum, outpost security, security quiz, wizard