One More Reason to Use Thunderbird

Check this out: Thunderbird has a new phishing protection measure! When a user clicks on a link within an email message, Thunderbird will warn the user if the actual URL is either a numeric IP address or does not match the URL printed in the email message. This prevents users from erroneously visiting a spoofed site and providing that site with their personal data.

I’ve received several phishing attempts over time, many of which appear to come from banks and services where I’m really a customer. These messages often do a great job of imitating the site, using logos and layouts from the real site. The only way to tell the difference is to examine the destination URL, something I’ve gotten into the habit of doing when I don’t just delete the message outright.

Unfortunately many home users aren’t familiar with how HTML and URLs work, which is exactly why these phishing schemes tend to work. After reading the news from Thunderbird, I had one of those “I could have had a V8!” moments; why didn’t someone think of this sooner?

If there was ever a good reason to switch your less tech-savvy friends and family members to Thunderbird, this is it.