Web and email protector M86 Security has released a free browser plug-in that it claims will offer surfers greater protection on social media sites and search engines.

M86 SecureBrowsing provides real-time scanning of URLs and alerts users if a site is compromised with malicious Web content embedded in search results links or malvertising or malicious links on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The plug-in works by sending URLs from visited sites to a cloud-based system based on M86’s Secure Web Gateway, which uses its Real-Time Code Analysis (RTCA) technology to scan the links in real-time. Links are then given a security rating, allowing a user to decide if the URL is safe or not.

M86 claims its new offering is the only link checking service that operates in real-time, as others have to rely on comparing URLs to static database lists.

M86 says this product has been released as a response to the increasing amount of threats coming through social media sites and search engines. M86 Security Labs researchers reckon 2010 saw a 90% increase in attacks delivered this way.

Methods used to compromise these sites include Blackhat SEO (getting a site higher up search engine rankings using unethical methods such as flooding a website with certain keywords), hijacked social media accounts, and insertion of malicious links into sites.

"We recognise the growing malware threat to users of social networking sites," said Werner Thalmeier, vice president, product management, M86 Security. "Individuals who use our M86 Secure Web Gateway are protected from these threats. M86 SecureBrowsing provides the same technology we use to block threats from enterprise customers to provide a simple warning system for any user."

M86 SecureBrowsing is available now on Mac and Windows versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Last year CBR carried out two exclusive podcasts with senior M86 executives about web and email threats, and what companies can do to protect themselves. You can listen to both podcasts on CBR’s new video and podcast site, CBRTV.