PayPal advises Safari users to ditch their browser
Ever popular eBay has sent a warning to anyone using the Safari browser to access its PayPal service.
Apparently, because Safari currently lacks any form of “anti-phishing” and Extended Validation measures, it makes it a terrible security threat. Extended Validation is a system which turns the browser’s address bar green if the user is visiting a safe site.
Michael Barrett, PayPal’s chief information security officer, said that, “Apple, unfortunately, is lagging behind what they need to do, to protect their customers. Our recommendation at this point, to our customers, is use Internet Explorer 7 or 8 when it comes out, or Firefox 2 or Firefox 3, or indeed Opera.”
He also made a rather bizarre statement which I can’t quite fathom. Apparently, users of Internet Explorer 7 are more likely to sign on to PayPal’s web site than users who don’t have the EV certificate technology. However, surely there are simply more IE7 users?
While it’s true that Safari doesn’t yet have these features, it’s rather unfair to single it out. Additionally, no browser is 100% secure, and users still need to remain vigilant. I use Safari a lot to access secure sites like these, and I haven’t been scammed or cleaned out.
Then again, I don’t click on the links in dodgy emails. When security’s at stake, how hard is it to manually enter the web address for the likes of PayPal?
(Via Ars Technica)
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