Anilrgowda

Following the lead of Mozilla's Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Opera Software has incorporated a new phishing filter into its Opera Web browser to block sites bent on stealing financial information or other sensitive data from unsuspecting users. The browser maker released its latest update, Opera 9.1, on December 18. The new version has a filter that draws information from the servers of watchdog group PhishTank and includes technology from digital certificate provider GeoTrust.
Branded as Fraud Protection, the antiphishing filter is designed to provide the user with real-time detection as it attempts to identify suspected fraudulent sites. The new Fraud Protection feature extends the original antifraud capability first seen in Opera 8. That feature sported a security information field to help determine if a site is mimicking a trusted and verified site.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 and Mozilla's Firefox 2.0 browsers also have filters that target phishing sites.
Phish Food
Despite increased awareness among Internet users about phishing, the problem is still running rampant, according to PhishTank. The group noted that in November, more than 9,000 unique phishing sites were created to steal personal information from online shoppers or bank users.
Because most phishing sites are taken down quickly, the only effective method tends to be real-time protection that draws on a rapidly updated list of suspected sites, PhishTank noted.
Operated by OpenDNS and an active community, PhishTank enables anyone to submit, verify, track, and share phishing data.
The release of Opera 9.1 with the filter was not just a happy accident for holiday shopping. The company noted that it was aware that cybercriminals are particularly active during this season as more people venture online to shop as well as connect with friends and family.
Security Office
Although Opera might be following Microsoft and Mozilla in debuting the real-time antiphishing feature, Opera tends to trump those browsers when it comes to general security. There have been only two vulnerabilities in Opera 9 since its release, noted Thomas Kristensen, chief technology office of security firm Secunia's.
Internet Explorer is widely believed to have the largest number of vulnerabilities, with Firefox coming in second and Opera in third.
"Opera also seems to have a very good response time in terms of fixing vulnerabilities after they have been publicly demonstrated," Kristensen said.
Whether the advantage is due to a better security design or simply because fewer security researchers look to find vulnerabilities in Opera is a different question, he added. But there is no doubt, he concluded, that more security researchers focus on finding flaws in Internet Explorer and Firefox, given the much larger installation base of those browsers.