Users of IE6 under Microsoft Windows XP SP2 will soon have a new security feature available for the MSN Toolbar.
The MSN Toolbar has some useful features, like tabbed browsing. InfoWorld now notes in a report that it will contain new security technology similar to that originally planned for IE7.
Give Redmond credit for working to get some of their new anti-phishing technology available sooner rather than later. Users get bombarded daily with emails alleging banks, credit cards, and online brokers need them to login to fix an account problem, claim a reward, or some other enticement available to them.
What users have been getting instead is a subtle and well-crafted redirection to web sites that look and act like legitimate sites, but will capture a user’s credentials, forward them to a criminal recipient, and leave the user unaware something has happened until long after they’ve been victimized financially.
An anti-phishing measure should alert a user when a site containing legitimate elements may not be hosted by the same platform delivering those elements. When criminals create a fake web site, they have been taking care to recreate the legitimate presence, and many linked elements will show up in the browser status bar as anchored to the real site.
When receiving an email claiming to be from a financial institution, users should avoid clicking the links within the message. It’s easy enough to type a real address directly into the browser that no one needs to fall victim to a phishing attempt.
Microsoft has not yet announced a release date for the new add-in.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
