This came to us directly from the Sunbelt Security Newletter. We are passing it along to you as we are now using ClearCloud and think you should too!!
One bit of warning: If you save attachment files to the temp file, ClearCloud will delete these so be sure to do SaveAs and save to a different location like your desktop, MyDocuments or Downloads.
SunbeltSecurityNewsVol. 3, #77 - August 25, 2010 - Issue #77
Sunshine under the ClearCloud
ClearCloud prevents you from being able to access known bad websites, sites that will download malicious files to your computer. Even better, ClearCloud prevents you from being able to access malicious websites that you may not even know your computer is trying to access - and it prevents potentially nasty programs from "phoning home" and secretly communicating between your computer and cybercriminals.
It is important to note that many programs legitimately phone home to get software updates. Microsoft Windows and Adobe Reader are two common programs that will check for current updates. ClearCloud knows the websites accessed by over a million safe programs and provides free passage to these sites. The difference is that ClearCloud knows which websites are malicious (a growing phenomenon).
ClearCloud is part of the DNS network, and has access to every URL in the world. You can think of DNS as the "phonebook of the internet," translating the name of the website into an IP addresses-the "phone number," which your browser uses to find the website. Just as you save phone numbers in your cell phone by the names of friends and associates, DNS holds tens of millions of web site names with the correct IP address.
When you type in the URL in your browser and click "Go" or "Enter" your browser sends the URL to ClearCloud. ClearCloud looks it up in a table, checks it against the list of bad websites, and if it passes, sends back the numeric IP address so your browser knows where to go to get the web page - all in milliseconds. If ClearCloud discovers that it's a bad URL, it sends back the IP address of our webpage that informs you about the malicious site. Chances are the site you're trying to go to will attempt to install a malicious program on your computer or fraudulently obtain money from you. If you think a particular site should not be in our database, please report it to our Blocked Site at Sunbelt Security.
If a site you want to visit is blocked by ClearCloud, you can submit the site to ClearCloud and we'll investigate if it belongs on the list or not. If the web site is no longer malicious, we'll remove it from our database. We're looking for Beta testers to install and use this utility to enable ClearCloud and report their results. With this utility, anyone can enable ClearCloud on their computer at the touch of a button, even those who are not familiar with the inner workings of Windows.
To find out more about ClearCloud, visit
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/NK7DJ1/100824-clearclouds
To download the utility directly, go to the Setup page,
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/NK7DJ1/100824-clearcloudsetup
.
Be sure to post anything you find on the ClearCloud Support forum,forums.ClearCloudDNS.com
Get the security you need for safe and reliable internet surfing with ClearCloud. It is very simple to set up yet really increases your security level - become a ClearCloud beta tester.