Anti-phishing measures already turning up in Safari 3 builds

Security enhancements that will protect users of Apple Computer's forthcoming Safari 3.0 Web browser from malicious websites have already begun to appear in the latest builds of the company's next-generation Leopard operating system.

According to published reports, the "anti-phishing" features, first described by AppleInsider last week, are accessible to developers testing the latest pre-release distribution of Leopard, build 9A283.

Through interaction with Google's AntiTrust database, Safari 3.0 is able to automatically detecting "phishy" or deceitful website URLs. It then notifies the user via a dialog box, webpage overlay, or a combination of the two.

"This webpage is fraudulent. You should close it immediately," reads a dialog box that pops up in pre-release builds of the browser. "Google has identified this webpage as fraudulent. Do not enter any personal information on this page."

Also new to Leopard in build 9A283 are significant user interface changes to iCal, 3D audio cues in VoiceOver, liveÂ previewsÂ inÂ printÂ panels, basic document editing in Preview.app, and the ability to restore groups and subgroups in AddressBook with Time Machine.

Additionally, Apple said Spotlight search technology in the latest builds includes support for Â PDF,Â HTML,Â WebÂ Archives,Â Text, QuickTime moviesÂ andÂ sound in "Quick Look" view. TimeÂ MachineÂ snapshotsÂ areÂ searchableÂ throughÂ Spotlight, the company told developers.

Safari 3.0 anti-phishing measures | Photo credit: TUAW

Meanwhile, iChat in Leopard now allows Spotlight Previews to be streamed in iChat Theater mode and gives users the ability to replace background video effects.

30 Comments

kickaha 8602 comments · 23 Years

About 18 years ago

Cool*beans*love*the*rumors.

mbaynham 489 comments · 18 Years

*notice the integration with google*

i like...

kim kap sol 2935 comments · 23 Years

A ridiculous amount of work went into Safari since 10.4. The upgrades to Safari in 10.4 point updates have absolutely nothing to do with what's going on behind the scenes with Webkit or even the upcoming Safari 3.0.

In a way, I wish all (or most of) the Webkit changes will make it into the last update to Safari 2.x.

Safari 3.0 will be a pleasant browser if only because it'll incorporate all the Webkit changes to date...but the anti-phishing feature will be great for unsuspecting users and the new search feature looks great.