Great, Now I Need Anti-Phishing Software Too?

from the it-will-never-end dept

Remember the good old days when all you really needed for security was some anti-virus software? Not any more. You've got to make sure you have good, regularly updated anti-virus software, and then you obviously need some anti-spam software or you'll never be able to find your real email. Plus, anyone without a personal firewall application is just asking for trouble. Oh, and don't forget those anti-spyware/adware programs to make sure none of that stuff sneaks by (you might want two such programs, just to be safe). Well, it turns out that's not all you need. Now that phishing scams are all the rage among criminal operations, some companies are working on anti-phishing tools. Right now, it looks like most of them are site specific - which sounds positively awful. You need your eBay anti-phishing toolbar (lights up green when on a real eBay site, lights up red when on a known fraudulent site), your ISPs own anti-phishing toolbar and probably one for your bank too (note that some of these use different color schemes to warn you what's safe and what's dangerous). Eventually, these may all start to merge in some manner, but you have to wonder how effective they're going to be. It's amazing how much software you need these days just to surf the internet safely.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Chris O'Donnell, 2 Apr 2004 @ 10:12am

    No Subject Given

    I already have an anti-phishing application. It's called a brain :)

    When in doubt, open up a browser window, manually type the paypal / ebay address, and log into your account.

    Althought the anti-phishing window sounds like it would be a fairly simple Firefox extension. Of course, Firefox users aren't the ones that need it...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    andy, 20 Aug 2004 @ 3:35am

    Re: No Subject Given

    symantec announced updates the other day to add antiphishing elements to its software. There obviously a market for that sort of thing. People who dont have the brains, confidence, knowhow etc.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.