Mobile Safari gained anticipated anti-phishing features as part of the iPhone/iPod Touch 3.1 Software update just released at the Apple’s rock n roll event.
Security firm Intego however, is criticizing the inconsistency as actually being worse that if the feature hadn’t been included at all. A number of people have tested the anti phishing feature, some people were getting warnings for sites that others load just fine with no warning.
All that seems to be clear is that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. This is clearly more dangerous than no protection at all, because if users are under the impression they are protected they will be less careful about which links they click.
The anti-phishing database is updated on a user’s iPhone via the charging/syncing process in order to preserve battery performance and prevent hidden data usage on cellular networks. Apple spokesman, Bill Evans, told The Loop. “After updating to iPhone OS 3.1 the user should launch Safari, connect to a Wi-Fi network and charge their iPhone with the screen off. For most users this process should happen automatically when they charge their phone.”
The report notes that the entire anti-phishing update must be downloaded in order a user to be protected, which likely explains much of the inconsistent behavior seen in early tests of the feature.
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