Another free tool for checking the safety of unknown website is LinkScanner from Exploit Prevention Labs. You just type the address of the website into the form and LinkScanner visits the site and checks its links to see if any of them lead to known malware websites. XPL also offers a free Lite version of the software that can be installed on your computer as well as a Pro level version which retails for $29.95 for a one-year subscription. The Pro version received 7.5 out of 10 (very good rating) from cnet.com in February 2007.

Exploit Prevention Labs was acquired by Grisoft, the maker of the AVG line of anti-virus products, in December 2007. I imagine much of LinkScanner's capabilities will be integrated into the various Grisoft/AVG products in time.

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.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser lost market share again in December to Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari browsers. IE held 75.8 percent of the browser market in December, down from 77.1 percent the previous month, according to data from Net Applications. Firefox increased its market share from 15.6 to 16.4 percent during the same period, while Safari went from 4.6 to 5.1 percent.

An interesting side note in Net Applications' data is the speed of adoption of new browser versions. Firefox 2 was officially released in late October, 2006, and just over a year later, nearly all Firefox users have upgraded to the newer version (96.5 percent use Firefox 2 versus 3.5 for Firefox 1.5). Internet Explorer 7 was released just ahead of Firefox 2, but it took until last month for the majority of IE users to have switched to version 7 (53.4 percent now use IE7, with most other IE users still on version 6, although some older versions are also still in use).

The New Tech Heroes have used the Firefox browser since its official introduction in November, 2004, and I continue to recommend it to our friends and clients for its security features and overall ease of use. Its growth in market share is largely due to its reputation as a more secure browser, as many of its innovative features are now part of Internet Explorer 7, including tabbed browsing.

Regardless of which browser you choose to use, it's vital to upgrade to the most recent version and, as with any software, make sure any security patches are downloaded and installed regularly. The browser has become the most common computer application, increasingly used to replace traditional desktop-based software, so its security is paramount to any home or small business computer.