Guest Post: Malware search checks online security for text you highlight

NOTE: The following is a guest post by Courtney Gordner. The blog maintainer is not responsible for its contents.

Security is a huge issue in today’s digital world, especially since we now keep so much of our personal information stored on mobile devices and computers. Just stop for a moment and think about how much dangerous software there is floating around out there, it’s enough to drive someone mad.

Malware and spyware can log information and keep track of what we’re doing when we use a computer. A simple virus could take down a working device and ruin an entire day’s worth of work or more. Those are a couple of the most common threats, but the list goes on and on. It goes without saying, there are a lot of dastardly things that could be accomplished with our sensitive data- especially if someone were able to monitor keystrokes and log passwords.

Long story short, security is important all the time. You would think with everything so streamlined and instant, that digital security would be the same way. In most cases, it’s not. To remain protected, you have to install third party security software, which generally does not offer streamlined support unless you pay a heavy premium. Of course, there are security firms that offer features like free email and file scanning, but they’re the exception more than they are the rule. Still, what do you do when you want streamlined protection? What do you do when you want to know right away if a download or URL is safe to visit?

With Malware Search, scans can actually be activated instantly. Once the software has been installed on your computer, you can right-click on a link (including download URLs) to scan the target using several different malware databases. It relies on a variety of sources like Threat Expert, Process Library, and Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center to ensure target links are safe to visit. It’s similar to VirusTotal, in that it uses a large collection of remote security engines to do the work, except Malware Search does it in a much more convenient way. With VirusTotal you have to download a package first, and then scan it. With Malware Search, you can just right click on an item and figure out what you need to. It’s streamlined, and most importantly always available.

Better yet, you can also check to see if a particular URL or web address is safe by viewing its Web of Trust listing.

Malware Search comes as a browser extension for both Chrome and Firefox. While the add-on itself hasn’t been updated in some time, the malware databases it uses are constantly being improved. Even though it’s an older extension it still works great with the latest versions of the aforementioned browsers.

Malware Search keeps you from going in blind because you can scan any link or URL and find out enough information to know whether or not it’s safe to visit. Unfortunately, there are no mobile variants of the software, so it’s for desktop use only. You can pick it up for Google Chrome from the Chrome Web Store, or Firefox from the Mozilla Add-ons page. When a site is infected with malware, they are kicked off Google which makes their SEO ranking go down. It’s important for you to understand if you run your own website the risks involved in becoming infected. Make sure you are using SEO Tools to see how you’re site is doing in searches so you can stay ahead of the game.

Courtney Gordner is a blogger/journalist who loves writing on any topic! Read more from her at her blog, www.talkviral.com