Section 9.7. The Phishing Filter


9.7. The Phishing Filter

The criminal mind knows no bounds. How else do you explain the clever nefariousness of phishing attacks?

In a phishing attack, you're sent what appears to be legitimate email from a bank, eBay, PayPal, or some other financial Web site. The message tells you that the site needs to confirm account information, or warns that your account has been hacked, and needs you to help keep it safe.

If you, responsible citizen that you are, click the provided link to clear up the supposed problem, you wind up on what looks like the bank/eBay/PayPal Web site. But it's a fake, carefully designed to look like the real thing; it's run by a scammer. If you type in your password and login information, as requested , the next thing you know, you're getting credit-card bills for $10,000 charges at high-rolling Las Vegas hotels.

The fake sites look so much like the real ones that it can be extremely difficult to tell them apart. (That's can be; on some of the phishing sites, spelling mistakes a fourth grader wouldn't make are a clear giveaway.) To make the site seem more realistic, the scam artist often includes legitimate links alongside phony ones. But if you click the login link, you're in trouble.

Internet Explorer 7's new phishing filter protects you from these scams. You don't need to do anything to turn it on; it's always running.

One day, though, when you least expect it, you'll be on your way to visit some Web siteand Internet Explorer will stop you in your tracks with a pop-up warning that you're about to open to a " reported phishing website" (Figure 9-10).

Figure 9-10. Don't go there: Internet Explorer blocks you from visiting known phishing sites. It uses a variety of methods for determining what's a legitimate site and what's a phishing site, including getting updated lists of known phishing sites.


In that situation, click the green checkmark button to close the page. Do not click the red X button; it will send you through to the phony site.

If Internet Explorer isn't quite sure about a certain site's phishiness, but it has a funny feeling in its bones, a yellow button appears next to the Address bar that says, "Suspicious Website." Unless you absolutely know the site is legitimate, it's a good idea to head somewhere else.




Windows Vista for Starters
Windows Vista for Starters: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 0596528264
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 175
Authors: David Pogue

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