Firefox anti-phishing better, says Mozilla
Browser phishing filters battle for supremacy.
Mozilla has released results of an independently run test of phishing filters, in which its latest product, Firefox 2.0, is compared with Microsoft's new offering, Internet Explorer 7. The test results show new technology in Firefox outperforming that in the rival browser.

Researchers at a third-party testing company visited over 1,000 websites listed as confirmed phishing sites by the PhishTank community project, with each browser in various configurations. IE7 scored 66% when in its default mode, which requires each site to be checked against a remote list at Microsoft headquarters, and a lowly 1.5% when cut off from the master list. Firefox, meanwhile, scored over 78% in its default local mode, and 81% when allowed to check with the latest blacklists provided by Google. As well as low detection rates, IE was criticised for the privacy risk and browsing slowdown caused by the use of remote data sources.
The tests have clashed with results of an earlier study, carried out for Microsoft by another third-party tester, which included several other phishing filters including an earlier version of the Firefox/Google collaboration. This test put the Microsoft product ahead of the field with a 'nine out of ten' detection rate (according a a Microsoft blogger) and zero false positives. The Mozilla-funded study has been criticised for poor methodology, including omitting false positive testing and not testing a wider range of products.
An overview of the new study can be found on Mozilla's site, here, while the earlier test was carried out by 3 Sharp, whose results are here. More info on the earlier test is on the Internet Explorer team blog, here, and a response to the new results from a 3 Sharp representative is here.
16 November 2006
Tags:
del.icio.us
digg this
ARF published as IETF standard
Abuse report format helps auto-handling of email complaints
02 September 2010
Microsoft releases new fix for DLL vulnerability
Earlier workaround believed to be too complex for most users.
01 September 2010
Malicious tweets link to fake TweetDeck update
Twitter resets passwords for accounts that appear to have been hacked.
01 September 2010
94% of Internet users befriend unknown 'good-looking woman'
Sensitiva data shared after two-hour chat. (1 comment)
31 August 2010
Investment boost for Quick Heal
Indian security firm gets hefty cash injection.
27 August 2010

Quick Links
![]() |
Poll
When do you install software updates?Leave a comment
View 12 comments

2 hours ago
6 hours ago
VB2010
VB2010 will take place 29 September - 1 October 2009 at the Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Virus Bulletin currently has 208,224 registered users.



