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Anti-phishing Software

The threats posed by spam are always evolving, and phishing is one of the most recent scams the spammers have come up with.
Your most important protection against phishing is vigilance and a healthy skepticism. You can, however, supplement this with Anti-phishing software programs

Anti-phishing software works by detecting phishing content that may be contained in an email. It is genrallly used in conjunction with your email service as a toolbar. This tool bar will display the real name of any website you visit, and expose any spoofed websites that phishers may attempt to use.

This software is offers a second line of defense to for blocking phishing attacks and sites that might have foiled and bypassed by your browser's built-in protection. Here are a few of them:

Earthlink Toolbar Scamblocker
Offers a check towards a phishing blacklist of sites
Checks the owner and location of the web site
Prevention against phishing and pop ups

Earthlink offers a free browser toolbar that includes ScamBlocker, an application that protects you against phishing scams and phishing pop ups. It will, for example, warn you when you attempt to connect to a website that is on Earthlink's balcklist of fraudulent sites. It will analie each web page hat you visit and display a security rating of the webpage on its toolbar.

Earthlink's Scamblocker can be downloaded at this link:
http://www.earthlink.net/software/free/toolbar/

Netcraft Anti-phishing Toolbar
When a one recipient of a phishing email reports it, the relevant URL is blocked for the rest of the Netcraft community members.

It will display for you the website's hosting location, which will help expose fraudulent urls. Say, for example, you are on the bankofamerica.com website, the hosting location is unlikely to be in Poland.
The toolbar will also detect any web addresses that contain letters or characters that are only used in the URL to deceive.

The Netcraft Anti-phishing Toolbar can be downloaded at this link:
http://toolbar.netcraft.com/

TrustWatch Toolbar
This free toolbar is also designed to protect against phishing, identity theft and internet fraud. It does real-time checks to let you know if a web site you are visiting has been verified by a legitimate third party organization, and if it is therefore safe to transmit your confidential personal information. It is the internet equivalent of a credit check.

The TrustWatch Toolbar can be downloaded at this link:
http://toolbar.trustwatch.com/

Stopzilla Anti-Spyware 5.0
STOPzilla works by detwecting and blocking Phishing Attacks, Popup Ads, Spyware, Adware and other malicious applications. It also provides hijack protection.

Stopzilla can be downloaded at this link:
http://www.stopzilla.com/

Spybot - Search and Destroy
This is a free Anti-Spyware application. An important feature of this application is that it will Write-protect your computer's HOSTS file, which is a primary target of phishers'spyware.

Webroot's Phish net
Phish Net employs a dynamic blacklist to protect against phishing. The application stores your personal data such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc. When you visit a site and attempt to enter this information, a pop-up will alert you that it is not on your list of trusted sites, and will expose any redirects that the may be involved in the transmission of your data. It will also verify that the site has an encrypted connection before it transmits the data.

Top 5 Myths About Phishing

There are several myths and misconceptions that abound when it comes to Phishing. These are the top 5 most common ones:

Myth #1

Anti-spam software can detect phishing email

While anti-phishing and spam filters can decrease the number of phising emails that get into your inbox, they are not 100% effective. Whenever anti-phishing technology keeps improving, the phishers are always devising ways to get around them. It truly is a cat-and-mouse game.

Secondly, because spam email and phishing email are different (phishing email spoofs a legitimate business), a different set of rules and criteria are required to detect the phisher.

Myth #2

As long as I don't give my password and user-name, I won't be Phished

Phishers are getting increasingly sophisticated. They now employ several variations on the original spoofed email that once requested your password and user-name.

They will, for example, instruct you to click on a link so as to update your information at a website. If you do click on the link, malware such as a keylogger or syware wil be downloaded to your computer.
The link may take you to a spoofed website, but it may also link you to the actual website of the legitimate business. Once there, a pop-up or overlay is activated, directing you to log in. You will probably be unaware that your access information has been compromised.

Myth #3

Most Phishing attacks originate from outside

With all the time and effort that has been poured into the Nigerian 419 spam scams, it is commonly assumed that phishing originates from emerging countries outside America. However, a study by Symantec shows that the majority of phishing attacks actually originate within the U.S.

Myth #4

Phishing is a problem that we can solve by educating users

This is not true. There are various ways the phisher can camouflage an IP address. In fact, a large proportion of phishing attacks are enabled through common misconfigurations in a web application. Phishers can manipulate internet technology to redirect you from a real and legitimate website, in such a way that although the original web address points to this real web site you are taken to the phisher's web site.

As the incidents of phishing and identity theft have increased, people have become more aware, and better able to identify phishing emails. The percentage of phishing victims has gone down. However, even though users are getting better educated and informed about phishing, there is always still a chance that someone will mistake a well-crafted phishing email for the real thing.

Myth #5

I will know one when I see one

This is another misconception regarding phishing, and a potentially dangerous one at that, especially in our digital world. With all the time, talent and technology available to them, these cyber crooks have more than ample resources to create and execute increasingly realistic email spam, web site spoofs or other electronic means by which to scam you out of your confidential financial data and wreak havoc on your financial affairs.

Vigilance is, in fact, your number one protection against the phisher's hook. Underestimating the phishers may cost you.

 

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