Microsoft Anti-Phishing Tool to Detect Identity Theft

Microsoft will soon offer the general public the next generation of its anti-phishing tool. The new tool will try to help fighting identity-theft attacks using enhanced phishing scanner that will warn users about phishing attacks that could lead to identity theft attacks.

The tool is currently available for a small group of Internet Explorer 7 testers. However, Microsoft is planning to incorporate it into a toolbar for older versions of internet explorer and will be available for users running Windows XP with Service Pack 2.

The key feature of the next version is its ability to detect phishing scams who try to trick users into revealing personal information such as credit cards, passwords, bank account information etc. by posing as legitimate banking or e-commerce site. The phishing site will be checked against Microsoft’s database of known phishing sites and if there’s a match, the tool will issue a warning.