Denver IT Support: Anti-phishing Software
Growing technology allows the threat of spam to continue evolving, and phishing is the scam of the moment spammers are using. Your best defense against phishing is to be cautious and maintain a healthy level of skepticism. However, you can save time by using good anti-phishing software.
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Anti-phishing software works by searching for any phishing content that may exist in an email. It is normally used as a complementary service to your email service in the form of a toolbar. This toolbar will display the real name of any website you visit and any fake websites phishers tend to use.
This software offers a backup defense for blocking phishing attacks and sites that might have been clever enough to get through your browser’s built in protection. Here are a few of them:
Earthlink Toolbar Scamblocker
- Earthlink provides a free toolbar for your browser that includes a Scamblocker, which is used to protect you from phishing scams and pop ups.
- It works by warning you if you attempt to connect with a page that is on Earthlinks blacklist of fake sites.
- It analyzes every site you visit and display the security rating of the web page on the toolbar.
Earthlink’s Scamblocker can be downloaded at this link:
http://www.earthlink.net/software/free/toolbar/
Netcraft Anti-phishing Toolbar
- Netcraft is provides a tight knit community where when one person reports a phishing email, the listed URL is blocked for all Netcraft members.
- By displaying the website’s hosting location, it helps expose fraudulent URLs. For example, if your bank is located in the U.S. and the hosting location is listed as Poland, it is most likely a scam.
- The toolbar will also detect URLs that use certain letters or characters to deceive.
The Netcraft Anti-phishing Toolbar can be downloaded at this link:
http://toolbar.netcraft.com/
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TrustWatch Toolbar
- Trust Watch offers a free toolbar designed to protect you from phishing attacks, identity theft, and internet fraud.
- It performs checks in real-time to inform you if the website you are attempting to visit has been verified by a legitimate third-party organization, and whether or not it is safe to send personal information through the site.
- It is equivalent to performing a credit check.
The TrustWatch Toolbar can be downloaded at this link:
http://toolbar.trustwatch.com/
Stopzilla Anti-Spyware 5.0
- Stopzilla is an ant-spyware program that detects and prevents phishing attacks, popup ads, spyware, adware, and any other form of malicious applications, as well as hijack protection.
Stopzilla can be downloaded at this link:
http://www.stopzilla.com/
Spybot – Search and Destroy
- Sybot Search and Destroy is a free to use anti-spyware program.
- The largest benefit of this program is that it will write-protect all of your computer’s host files, which is the main target of phishing spyware.
Spybot can be downloaded at this link:
http://www.safer-networking.org
Webroot’s Phish net
- Phish Net uses a dynamic blacklist that aids in protecting phishing attacks.
- It works by storing personal data (eg. Credit card numbers, bank accounts, etc.), and alerting you as to whether or not it is a trusted site when you attempt to enter personal information.
- It will also alert you to any redirects that may have happened during the transmission of your data, as well as make sure the site has an encrypted connection before transmission.
Webroot’s Phish net can be downloaded at this link:
http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products/
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