Some time ago I received an email from Esa Suurio, CEO of a relatively new free web service/browser add-on, WOT (web of trust), in which he set out the advantages of this Internet community whose purpose is to allow its members to exchange their personal knowledge about a web site. According to WOT, the user community now has reputation data on over 17 million sites worldwide.
The shared information on a site’s reputation includes trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy, and child safety. In addition, WOT uses hundreds of trusted sources including phishing site listings, to keep users protected against rapidly spreading threats.
Based on the information I gathered I decided to test this browser add-on for 30 days. A major attraction for me was WOT’s ability to provide information on the reliability/unreliability of online shopping sites. I was so impressed with WOT’s functionality that I have kept this browser add-on as part of my permanent security armor.
People-driven security is an idea whose time has finally arrived. An obvious advantage of the Internet is the gathering and dissemination of information. What better way to use the Internet then, than to provide critical security information gathered from web users, to the people most in need of this information; other web users.
Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer at the Internet Storm Center (ISC), has been quoted as saying with respect to people driven security “The good guys need to out-share the bad guys to help counter them.” Given the unstable state of Internet security, it would be difficult to disagree with the sentiment expressed in this statement.
Quick facts – WOT checks the following:
- Trustworthiness
- Vendor reliability
- Privacy
- Child Safety
WOT is free and it’s available for both Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Download at: MyWot
Bill Mullins' Weblog - Tech Thoughts 