Safari Browser Security Risk with PayPal

Posted March 4th, 2008 by Richard Dewick in
Safari Browser Security Risk with PayPal

PayPal, in an interview with Macworld, gave a stark warning about possible security breaches related to the Mac Safari browser and PayPal. Steer clear of Safari or you could become a victim of online fraud.

"Apple, unfortunately, is lagging behind what they need to do, to protect their customers," Michael Barrett, PayPal's chief information security officer said in an interview. "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."

Seeing that Safari is the default browser for the Mac it's a big disappointment that it has no built-in phishing filter to warn users when visiting a fraudulent website. Security should be one of the main concerns for any browser software company but when someone recommends Internet Explorer as being safer then you need to think about changing browsers.

Sarah Perez over at ReadWriteWeb also highlights the dangers of using Safari and PayPal together.

Steer clear of Safari? I

On March 8th, 2008 Anonymous said:

Steer clear of Safari? I would rather steer clear of PayPal! Even though I own a mac I don't use Safari. From past experience PayPal does not do enough to protect it's own customers. PayPal points the finger at Safari because it is easier to play the victim than to have to do something about it yourself.

User Awareness

On March 10th, 2008 Richard Dewick said:

I've never had any problems with PayPal itself, so I can't complain on that front.

I use Firefox like most web developers as it far out strips Safari with it's great range of plugins and all round stability. I'm surprised Safari suffers from these problems as most Apple software is of the highest quality, come on Apple pull your finger out!

I think most users would be able to spot a phishing site but you would think Apple would do all it can do become the top browser out there, wouldn't you?

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