Phishing requires more effort than you might think

When it comes to setting up phishing pages, there are some phishers that make the extra effort. Take those behind the fake Orkut login pages, for example.

Symantec has been following their work, and noticed that phishers make the same changes to the websites that the original site makes – namely, the logo that changes on special occasions such as Earth Day, Mother’s Day, and others:

Google had actually a pretty good idea with this logo-changing practice: not only does it make the services look more friendly and reminds the users that the sites are constantly monitored and updated, but it also makes “lazy” phishers fail.

I bet that the personalization option of choosing your personal background images on the main page of search engines such as Google and Microsoft’s Bing can come very handy, too, especially when you clicked on a link you shouldn’t have clicked on and you are seamlessly redirected onto a fake search engine home page – you’ll notice immediately that something is off, and probably check the actual web address.

You can also stand to learn a little about how to detect a phishing page. Go here to find out how Google does it.