Why do we need anti-phishing software?

We've all suffered from those annoying emails instructing us to go to a website, which, when we get there looks perfectly legitimate. Now more than ever we ask ourselves - "Is this site real or fake?"

The common denominator for phishing prevention seems to be focused in a few points:

• Protecting and registration of changes to the HOSTS file:
  The Hosts file normally acts as a network-translation mechanism so that you can access certain network resources without having to go through DNS (domain name services). However, in many situations, spyware and adware modify this file so that web browser requests to sites such as PayPal, Amazon, or eBay go to other sites instead.
• Keeping a black list of known phishing websites:
  Blacklist solutions only provide protection against known sites that have been reported, investigated, and published to a list. This process can be time consuming if it is done manually, yielding the protection quickly outdated and leaving you and your customers vulnerable to new or unreported spoof sites. Furthermore, attackers can easily evade identification by moving the site to a new server or modifying a few characters in the web site address.
• Scanning the URL / Links out:
  URL's / link outs are often disguised as HTML code so they seem to point to trusted sites like banks or renown Internet commerce's. However, most of the phishing mails contain direct IP-address links to a fraudulent web page. So, be very careful at the email instructing you you to go to a direct IP address!

Comodo Verification Engine Verification Engine is compatible with the following Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP running the following browsers - Internet Explorer 5.01 and above, AOL 1.1 and above and Netscape 8+ (IE mode), re-install NOT required if upgraded; Firefox 1.0.7 and above, Netscape 8+ (FF mode) and Mozilla 1.7 and above, re-install required if installed after Verification Engine

In a world where a million web sites are created every single day, you need assurance of a business' legitimacy. Now you can have it, for free, with VerificationEngine. This tool allows you to verify specific content on a website so that you can be sure that, for instance, a PayPal logo on a website is truly from Paypal.

Simply go to www.vengine.com to download and install Comodo's VerificationEngine plug-in (a very small file that is less than the size of an average HTML email).

This helps avoid being reeled in by a phishing attack, i.e. being lured to a legitimate looking site by a legitimate looking e-mail.

With VE installed, simply place your mouse over the company logo/name and if a green outline appears around your screen, the site is verified as coming from the company it claims to be. Green is Good to Go!

Note: The description is from the Comodo web site. Although you can simply download and install the software, we strongly advise you to read the producer explanations.

Spybot - Search & Destroy

Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies.

If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging.

Spybot - Search & Destroy is free, and is also working on Vista!

Note: The description is from the producer web site. Although you can simply download and install the software, we strongly advise you to read the producer explanations, and to take a look at the other security software they are providing.

Netcraft Toolbar The Toolbar community is effectively a giant neighbourhood watch scheme, empowering the most alert and most expert members to defend everyone within the community against phishing attacks. Once the first recipients of a phishing mail have reported the target URL, it is blocked for community members as they subsequently access the URL.

Widely disseminated attacks (people construct phishing attacks send literally millions of emails in the expectation that some will reach customers of the bank) simply mean that the phishing attack will be reported and blocked sooner.

The Netcraft Toolbar also:

• Traps suspicious URLs containing characters which have no common purpose other than to deceive.
• Enforces display of browser navigational controls (toolbar & address bar) in all windows, to defend against pop up windows which attempt to hide the navigational controls.
• Clearly displays sites' hosting location, including country, helping you to evaluate fraudulent urls (e.g. the real citibank.com or barclays.co.uk sites are unlikely to be hosted in the former Soviet Union).

You can download and install Netcraft Toolbar here.

Note: The description is from the Netcraft web site. Although you can simply download and install the software, we strongly advise you to read the producer explanations

Note: all the explanations and texts was taken from the producers web sites, as well as from AntiPhishing.info