Safe Downloads
The internet is a vast and wonderful place where you can find virtually any information you can think of, and where you can obtain (often free) software to install on your computer (for good or for bad). That's where this page is concerned. We feel that everyone needs to take what they find on the internet with a healthy grain of salt. Virtually anyone (even us!) can put something on a web page, without regard to whether it's true or not, or whether it's safe for people to use.
So our advise is: Unless you are 100% sure that something is safe, consider it unsafe. There can be no grey area where your computer (and your data) is concerned. We've developed a short list of downloadable software that we find safe to use, that doesn't include hidden spyware or worse payloads. We've provided links to where you can download these programs, because we've found that there are many similarly-named products that aren't safe. So without further ado, here's our list:
Helper Programs:
- Adobe Reader (available at www.adobe.com) NOTE: we don't recommend you install any free trial-ware or use Adobe's Download Manager.
- Flash Player (available at www.macromedia.com)
- Shockwave Player (available at www.macromedia.com) NOTE: we don't recommend you install the Yahoo! toolbar.
- Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer (available at www.google.com)
Protection Programs:
- Spybot Search & Destroy (available at www.safer-networking.org)
- Ad-Aware SE Personal (available at www.lavasoftusa.com)
- Zone Alarm (available at www.zonelabs.com)