Paypal is warning users to avoid Safari, and choose IE, Firefox or Opera instead. Why? Safari doesn't implement the modern anti-phishing systems that other browsers do. It's good advice. Over the past two years, with the emergence of strong anti-phishing technologies, fraud due to fishing is way down.
Not many people use Safari any more, in any case. In our own measurements, we've seen Safari use in the 1% range. It seems that most Mac users prefer Firefox. Moreover, Safari itself has trouble with web pages that IE and Firefox sail through.
The tragedy for users is that Safari is the browser on iPhone. As iPhone gains popularity, expect more iPhone users to be caught in phishing scams if Apple doesn't choose to modernize the browser.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
