Tech Shout!

Most of us may have heard of the term ‘phishing’, and the experienced know that the people behind such attacks have terrible goals in mind. But, what are the real dangers of phishing and how can we protect our computers against this growing danger, is something that each one of us need to be acquainted with.

A team of scientists from the Carnegie Mellon University have developed a game called ‘Anti-Phishing Phil’. The scientists claim that this simple game would inform users about the real dangers of phishing on the Internet.

The Anti-Phishing Phil game which features a cartoon fish named Phil has already been tested at the scientists’ Privacy and Security Laboratory.

The inclusion of a cartoon fish named Phil surely adds a hint of humor to the rather serious issue of Phishing which has become so prevalent on the Internet.

It has been claimed by the developers of Anti-Phishing Phil that those users who spend 15 minutes playing the game would be able to recognize fraudulent Web sites and differentiate such sites from trust-worthy ones.

The Carnegie scientists have noticed that this educative game about Phishing is much more effective that just reading about the phenomenon online.

The development of the Anti-Phishing Phil game is a part of the CMU anti-phishing research initiative. This project has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office.

You can play the Anti-Phishing Phil game from here.