Protecting yourself from web-borne malware can often be something of a hassle. Especially if the process involves browser toolbars, which can slow you down and make your system more unstable.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. And the new Mirage Anti-Bot is a great example of a simpler, more lightweight approach.

This lightweight tool blocks your access to infected websites

Essentially the program just runs in the background, connecting to abuse.ch occasionally to download its popular ZeuS blocklist. It then checks the sites you’re visiting to confirm that they’re safe, and blocks access to any which show up as infected: easy.

Of course this reliance on a secondary list (even a good one), as well as the focus on ZeuS alone, means that Mirage Anti-Bot is no substitute for a full antivirus package with good real-time browsing protection.

But on the other hand, the program’s lightweight nature (it consumed a mere 3MB of RAM on our test PC) should mean you can run it alongside your existing security tools without any conflict. And the author says he’ll be expanding it soon to protect against other malware, including SpyEye and Palevo, so if you’re looking for a simple way to enhance your online safety then Mirage Anti-Bot could be one to watch.