Drop-down menus. Animated introductory screens. Embedded videos and music. Live scrolling around an interactive map. All things we've come to expect when we visit a new web site. But this cool technology also brings with it additional security issues for anyone surfing the web.

While most of these scripts or plug-ins are completely safe, the possibility that malicious code is included within a Flash element or JavaScript script does exist. Anti-virus software and firewalls can catch some of the malware if it attempts to modify your computer or connect with the internet outside of your own network, but a better choice is to stop the scripts from running until you have a chance to decide whether to trust the website or not.

NoScript is a free Firefox add-on that does exactly that, blocking all scripting and plug-in activity until you make the choice whether to allow it. The add-on blocks JavaScript, Flash, Silverlight, PDF files, Java applets and other similar items by default. If you decide to trust the website, you can click on individual items to allow them, or choose to trust the entire site (permanently or temporarily) by using NoScript's menu, which is added to the bottom status bar of the Firefox browser.

Giorgio Maone is the developer of NoScript, which won one of PC World's 2006 World Class Awards. The add-on is free, though if you find it useful, a small donation is welcomed and can be made from the NoScript home page.