IE7 and Opera browsers upgrade phishing protection

Adam Turner
Tuesday, 19 December 2006 03:22

Business IT - Security

Microsoft has fixed a bug causing Internet Explorer 7's phishing shield to bog down page loads, as competitor Opera incorporates the technology that warns users when they visit fraudulent websites.

The glitch caused Microsoft's new browser to choke when running on Windows XP and loading web pages containing multiple frames. Microsoft incorporated the technology to protect against the practice of setting up fake website, pretending to be a trusted site such as a bank, and then tricking people into entering their passwords.

The first major update to Microsoft's web browser in five years, IE 7 was released in October with a primary focus on combating new security threats. Competitor Firefox 2.0, released at the same time, also includes anti-phishing measures.

The Opera browser, which has a higher slice of the mobile device than desktop market, has also incorporated phishing protection with Opera 9.1. The feature matches websites again a list of known phishing sites maintained by the PhishTank project.