Norwegian software firm Opera released the latest version of its eponymous browser this week, adding anti-phishing features to help users detect known fraudulent Web sites.

The company joins both Microsoft and Mozilla in adding the security technology to its browser. In October, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7 , which includes technology for checking the sites being visited by the user against a database maintained by Microsoft. A week later, the Mozilla Foundation released its latest browser, Firefox 2.0 , which included similar technology, but which could check against either an offline or online database.

Security experts recommend that users upgrade to the latest version of their favorite browser to benefit from the anti-phishing tools.

"We see these updates as a very positive development for the typical Web consumer and hope to see the features widely enabled," security firm F-Secure stated in a blog post on Wednesday. "If you haven't updated your browsers, do so now... And for those of you that have the great pleasure of being your family's IT support – put this on your Christmas to-do list."

Which anti-phishing tool is most effective is still a point of contention. Both Microsoft and Mozilla have released studies underscoring the superiority of their technology.


securityfocus.com