IE7 Defends Against Phishing Sites

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In my opinion, the feature in IE7 Beta 1 that separates it from the rest of the web browsers is the all new phishing filter. 99 out of a 100 times, “you” know that those “update your paypal/ebay account” emails are bogus phishing sites – but millions of other people who surf the internet everyday don’t realize this. Phishing has become an epidemic on the internet, and the average person has become used and abused because of phishing.

Although the Phishing Filter is not in Vista Beta 1 (it will be incorporated into future releases), it is in Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 for Windows XP. When your web browser navigates to an address, IE7 will (just as normally) connect to the web server and download the page. While IE7 is downloading the page, it generates an asynchronous call to a special database of phishing sites. If the database has the website marked as a phishing site, it will display a warning page instead of the actual page with options to close the window or continue to the page. If the page is not marked as a phishing site, IE7 will look at the downloaded page for things it determines phishing sites to have, and form an opinion whether the site is a phishing site or not. If IE7 thinks this is a phishing site, it will display a warning, and even allow you to report the site as a phishing site.

Ask the victims of identity theft how long it took them to get back to life before their identity was stolen - it's clear that the IE7 Phishing Filter is a feature that will save people more time then any other feature in web browsers. It’s nice that IE7 has Tabs and RSS support, but the Phishing Filter has put IE to the head of the pack.

News source: Extended64

Cont...

The top 10 software titles for the first six months of the year were dominated by PlayStation 2 games. Sony's console had six games in the top 10, including Sony Computer Entertainment's Gran Turismo 4 in the top slot.

Nintendo had the second most games in the top 10. Game Boy Advance games held two positions with Pokemon Emerald at second place and Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap at seventh. The lone GameCube representative was Capcom's Resident Evil 4 in the eighth slot. But that tied Microsoft's entire Xbox contingent, with the tenth-place Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith lingering at the bottom of the list.

The only 2004 game to crack the top 10 was Take-Two Interactive's controversy-laden Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which was released in October. The complete Top 10 consoles games of 2005 can be seen below.

Rank/Title/Platform/Publisher/Release Date/SRP

1. Gran Turismo 4 (PS2, Sony Computer Entertainment, Feb 05 $49)
2. Pokemon Emerald (GBA, Nintendo, Apr 05, $34)
3. MVP Baseball 2005 (PS2, Electronic Arts, Feb 05, $49)
4. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (PS2, LucasArts, May 05, $49)
5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, Take-Two Interactive, Oct 04, $47)
6. God of War (PS2, SCE, Mar 05, $50)
7. Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA, Nintendo, Jan 05, $50)
8. Resident Evil 4 (GC, Capcom, Jan 05, $50)
9. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (PS2, Take-Two, Apr 05, $49)
10. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Xbox, LucasArts, May 05, $49)

#1 markjensen on 29 Jul 2005 - 18:40

Sounds like a good idea. I know my parents, and my wife's parents aren't nearly "net-wise" enough to identify a phishing scam.

(1 reply) #2 dandin1 on 29 Jul 2005 - 18:50

True, alot of people I know would most likely fall for scams like that. I just hope that IE doesn't restrict sites that arn't bad by accident and stop you from going to them.

#2.1 em_te on 30 Jul 2005 - 00:32

There's also a "Suspicious Website" mode for suspicious, but unconfirmed websites, which is probably half way in between.

(3 replies) #3 lbmouse on 29 Jul 2005 - 19:03

Here are some more reviews of IE7 (aka MS Firefo

.

Last edited by 89572 on 01 Aug 2005 - 16:31

#3.1 MrCobra on 29 Jul 2005 - 23:26

Like FF didn't copy features from IE?

#3.2 Darkinspiration on 30 Jul 2005 - 00:46

actualy they didn't most of theyre engine comme form geeko the mozilla/netscape engine recompiled and optimised. And the GUI is a simplification of the mozilla one.

#3.3 rm20010 on 30 Jul 2005 - 04:46

^ GUI - no, it just resembles IE (with a few differences). But I assume they did it to make the transition from IE to FF easier.

(6 replies) #4 Caleb on 29 Jul 2005 - 20:12

Just install the NetCraft toolbar and be done with it.

#4.1 lbmouse on 29 Jul 2005 - 20:43

Very good point Caleb.

FF has had this for a while and I would trust Netcraft over MS (especially after the Gator/Claria fiasco).

#4.2 EduardValencia on 29 Jul 2005 - 22:30

ibmouse you've managed to make the most bloated broswer on neowin

congratulations

#4.3 Ravensworth on 29 Jul 2005 - 22:51

lbmouse, I'll see your toolbars and raise you this...

#4.4 MrCobra on 29 Jul 2005 - 23:27

OMFG!!!! What the hell is that?

#4.5 em_te on 30 Jul 2005 - 00:28

But the Netcraft toolbar takes up a whole new row on Firefox. The IE anti-phishing thing only takes up a small space.

#4.6 Tokar on 30 Jul 2005 - 16:22

yeah, you can do that. but it will NOT save you time.

I found that the netcraft toolbar slows down your page load times significantly.
It has to contact the server like IE's antiphishing tool, but it is a lot slower and causes pages to load much slower.

#5 dgonzals on 29 Jul 2005 - 20:17

is the phishing thing a add - on?, its not on windows vista beta 1 ie7, but on the standalone that was released to developers? did you guys notice that?

(1 reply) #6 Ravensworth on 29 Jul 2005 - 22:01

What are they talking about? I just tried going to one and it works fine. Didn't even give me a warning.

#6.1 rm20010 on 30 Jul 2005 - 04:48

LOL. Someone should change the 'ph' to an 'f'.

(1 reply) #7 jp10558 on 29 Jul 2005 - 23:42

Does anyone worry about the privacy implications of sending every site you go to to MS for vetting?

#7.1 SniperX on 30 Jul 2005 - 00:56

I hear you. I really struggle to believe it's without ulterior motive for MS. They could, for example, use it as a database for which to learn where best to place their ads, etc. Not for me, thanks.

#8 king_turkey on 29 Jul 2005 - 23:52

Right... I seriously doubt there's a need for all those toolbars, there's probably 6 different google search bars in them

. This is obviously a feature for computer illiterates, so saying, "just use ff and 6 extensions" seems a bit stupid. I personally don't need this feature, I can tell the difference, that is if I had a credit card and was willing to give my details to websites. I actually turned the feature off when it asked me the first time, I think it was about to tell me that www.****.com (EDIT: woops maybe not something I should post here) is a phising site, which it's not. And as for paranoid conspiracy theories, who really cares if MS knows you've been to neowin

? And in the article it says that it is in the standalone beta of IE7 but not in the Vista one, it will be in future builds of Vista, it's not an ad-on.

#9 eilegz on 30 Jul 2005 - 01:41

well i was looking at BINK.nu and i saw ie 7 pictures in vista and it ressembles a lot to AOL browser in windows somehow anyways and the interface its from firefox not a good or bad thing but what about users that its already get used to the OLD interface i would like to see a option to switch it back anyways the ONLY original feature that IE7 got so far its the anti phishing site and its something that netscape 8 already got.

(1 reply) #10 TheSarge on 30 Jul 2005 - 01:56

What I'd like to know is how IE7 determines which site is a phishing site and which is not.

#10.1 lbmouse on 01 Aug 2005 - 15:10

You can bet your sweet patootie that anything associated with Claria is not, but anything associated with open source is.

#11 BigBoy on 30 Jul 2005 - 02:19

Well that feature does not separate IE 7 from Deepnet Explorer, as Deepnet has anti-phishing for - well, a long time now. It is a front end for IE too, so you do not lose compatibility. PLUS it does not load BHOs which makes it even more secure.

More at Deepnetexplorer site

#12 nacs on 30 Jul 2005 - 08:32

Wait, so it sends every URL you visit to Microsoft?

(1 reply) #13 king_turkey on 30 Jul 2005 - 08:48

Yes, but its annonymous, and also, who cares? What urls are you visiting that are so precious you don't want MS seeing???

#13.1 Dakkaroth on 30 Jul 2005 - 10:03

Apparently everyone that uses anti-spyware programs. People don't like having their data logged everywhere, much less hand it over to MS. Proof of this can be found by all the 'ghost surfing' programs and 'track erasers'. Besides, when did Microsoft become this diety that can see all?

#14 Dale on 30 Jul 2005 - 08:50

i am impressed with Internet Explorer Beta 1. although I feel it has little more to go before it makes me want to switch from firefox.

But I am impressed. That is not a lie. This anti-phishing feature sounds good. I wouldn't be surprised if firefox copied it though

.

I feel IE7 lacks customization. other than that. its a Pretty solid browser, seeing as it has more up-to date features.

(3 replies) #15 Dakkaroth on 30 Jul 2005 - 10:17

Won't be long before IE7 is obsolete. Microsoft tends to make things and leave them in the dust for a few years. Good luck getting an update.

#15.1 INFERNO2k on 30 Jul 2005 - 14:32

Weird.

Every month I go to Windows Updates and there are monthly culmulative updates.

Where you getting your information from?

#15.2 redkahn on 31 Jul 2005 - 10:48

Those "updates" are security related, not updates to the functionality of the software.

#15.3 lbmouse on 01 Aug 2005 - 15:16

John Dvorak said it best:

QUOTE

If there is no competition outside the company it's now apparent that Microsoft cannot generate any internal impetus. The languishing of Internet Explorer until recently is a perfect example of this.

Once Microsoft has pushed out all the competition in an arena, there is no longer any incentive for them to continue product development at a pace their customers deserve. That is one of the problems with monopolistic activity.

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