AVG offers standalone realtime web page scanning for Firefox and IE

AVG's LinkScanner browser protection isn't a new offering - it's been part of their antivirus protection suite since the release of version 8. Today, however, they have decided to release LinkScanner as a stand-alone plugin so that you can add its protection to your browser even if you don't run AVG as your Windows antivirus app.

The concept is similar to Web of Trust (which was one of my Firefox addon picks last year) in that it's designed to provide trust alerts and block access to potentially harmful sites. The toolbar includes both a search protection feature and "active surf" protection.

Links within pages are scanned and given a green check if determined to be safe, yellow exclamations if caution is needed, or a red x if unsafe. With active surf enabled, site will be blocked even if accessed directly from the address bar - LinkScanner will instead present a large, red warning that you're treading on dangerous ground.

AVG claims that one in eight users of LinkScanner has already been protected from a malicious site. While it may not be your cup of tea, LinkScanner could be a good way to keep less savvy users you know out of trouble - your parents and friends, perhaps?

[via AppScout]

Tags: avg-linkscanner, malicious, security, web-pages, wot