Browsers Block Substantially More Phishing Sites Within First 24 Hours of Detection, However Selective and Sophisticated Phishing Attacks Remain a Severe Threat for Targeted Organizations
AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - Nov 28, 2012) - NSS Labs today released the latest results and analysis from its web browser security comparative series which evaluated the phishing protection offered by the four leading browsers -- Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. During the 10-day test period, the average phishing URL catch rate ranged from 90% for Firefox 15 to 94% for Chrome 21 -- a significant improvement from 2009 testing where the average block rate was 46%. The average time it took the tested browsers to block a phishing URL also improved to 4.87 hours versus 16.43 hours in 2009 tests.
These test results show that web browsers, an important first line of defense, have improved their ability to detect and block malicious phishing sites sufficiently promoted through fraudulent messages to be more quickly logged in reputation-based systems updating browsers' blocking features. As a result, attackers must create and rotate phishing URLs far more frequently in order for them to be effective. Browsers' reputation-based defenses, as a rule, offer less protection from more narrowly targeted phishing attacks, such as those aimed at government and financial services organizations and likely launched selectively in an effort to evade reputation system recognition.
View the NSS Labs 2012 Browser Security Comparative Analysis Report - Phishing Protection.
Key browser security test conclusions for phishing protection include:
Commentary: NSS Labs Research Director Randy Abrams
"Phishing has been a pernicious threat for several years and the variety of measures designed to mitigate the problem have yet to decrease the prevalence of such attacks. Recent advances in reputation-based blocking systems are reaching maturity and now afford consumers and enterprises significant protections against the less sophisticated attacks," said Randy Abrams, Research Director at NSS Labs. "Still, the availability of cheap and disposable domains allow criminals to rapidly change the location of phishing sites. The result is that even a site that is live for only a few hours can evade detection and ensnare enough unwary consumers to be a profitable criminal endeavor. Sophisticated spearphishing campaigns continue to be highly problematic to defend against. It is important that developers harden browsers to block not only phishing attacks, but also other threats, such as socially engineered malware and drive-by downloads as these remain popular and effective attack vectors for cybercriminals."
The products covered in this test were:
About NSS Labs, Inc.
NSS Labs, Inc. is the world's leading information security research and advisory company. We deliver a unique mix of test-based research and expert analysis to provide our clients with the information they need to make good security decisions. CIOs, CISOs, and information security professionals from many of the largest and most demanding enterprises rely on NSS Labs' insight, every day. Founded in 1991, the company is located in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.nsslabs.com.
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