Granted, there are a lot of PC security web sites and companies are falling all over themselves to entice you to buy their latest protection program. However, the guy running AuditMyPC.com is someone who puts their best foot forward and offers free tools to assess you security weak spots — with no strings attached. There’s information about why you should be concerned about “security” and then there’s a support forum where you can ask additional questions and actually get answers.

In fact, here’s a sample of the specific kind of help available on their forum. 

===== From Their Forum/Helpdesk ========================

Question: “How do I keep my browser from showing up in my AWStats for my web site?”

The user had few visitors and felt that his activity managing and upgrading his site was skewing his numbers. (I confess, I have a few sites with the same issue! I spend more time on them than all of my visitors put together.)

Answer: (This may look a little jumbled because it’s only part of the answer from their forum. The rest of the thread is at http://www.websecurity.mobi/computer-help/90-awstats-do-no-record-my-pc.html.)

Use AWStats.conf file to block a specific ip address or browser identified by the “useragent” tag.

To change the useragent in Firefox, do the following:

1- visit http://www.auditmypc.com/anonymous-surfing.asp and record the user agent.

2- To change the User Agent in firefox, simply type ‘about:config’ (without quotes) into the address bar of FireFox (like you would any website address).

In the window that appears, right click on the white space and select NEW, STRING

Enter the preference name ‘general.useragent.override’, without quotes.

Next, enter the new User Agent you would like to be, you could make it anything, say:
Mozilla/5.0r

Now, revisit http://www.auditmypc.com/anonymous-surfing.asp and look at the user agent and you should notice the change.

Now, in AWstats, simply set the SkipUserAgents=”" to
SkipUserAgents=”Mozilla/5.0r”

===================================================================
I added the line: SkipUserAgents=”Mozilla/5.0cr” to the line directly below ‘ SkipHost=”" ‘ at line 259 in home/tmp/~domainname~/awstats.conf
===================================================================

Now, whenever you visit your site, your activity will be recorded, but NOT factored into the statistics, such as visitors, hits, pages, etc. This is because there is no other Mozilla/5.0r (r for roger) except your browser and we are excluding that user agent.

If you are using my Webmaster Tool, you can also enter Mozilla/5.0r (or whatever you’re using as an agent) into the user agent setting located on the Settings Tab and prevent the tool’s activity from being factored into stats as well.
==================== End of Forum/Helpdesk Excerpt =========================

Here’s a couple of paragraphs from their “About Page:”

Welcome! AuditMyPC.com is a vulnerability assessment, privacy test, research and security information site. This site was designed to promote security awareness - free of charge!

I originally started this site in October of 2000 and moved it to AuditMyPC.com shortly after. The site was created because I desired a greater understanding of security and in-depth web based programming. I was also motivated by the lack of similar sites and the need to perform remote security scans without limitations, fees or long registration requirements.

The site was designed to be aesthetically pleasing and allow fast and easy navigation. The last thing a user new to security needs is a complicated site littered with hard to read material and nested pages. The information this site provides about your system is available to any site. The purpose here is not to scare, it’s to make you aware.

Personally, I think this is the kind of web site people should use as a model. Yes, they monetize their site using Adsense and a few banners, but there’s more information than advertising. And no, I don’t have a relationship with the web site or its owner. I just think it’s a great web site — low on hype and heavy on resources and help. (Just my two cents worth.)