Phishing Boat — Andrew Zuelsdorf

Phishing Boat offers protection against most
phishing attacks.

Q: How does it work?

A: When you click on a link, Phishing Boat will determine whether you have visited that website recently (since the last extension update and after the "learning period", which is described below). If you haven't, then Phishing Boat will ask you to confirm that you want to proceed to the website before continuing. If you recognize the website, then you can click "OK" to proceed to the website. Otherwise, you can click "Cancel" to remain on the current webpage and avoid traveling to the unfamiliar website.

Q: What is the learning period?

A: The learning period is an amount of time after you first install the extension. For this amount of time (one week), any link you click will be assumed to be a familiar website. In this way, the extension will attempt to "learn" what websites you are used to visiting. After the learning period passes, any unfamiliar links will result in a confirmation prompt similar to the one described above.

Q: How does that help stop phishing attacks?

A: Most people only visit a few dozen distinct websites, and because most phishing attacks rely on a distracted person visiting a website with an intentionally-misspelled name (such as "twiter.com" instead of "twitter.com"), Phishing Boat helps people become more cognizant when they are doing something risky and helps remove the haste that hackers need for their phishing attacks to work. This way, you can stop phishing attacks before they have a chance to do any real damage.