Home email users get protection from ‘Stranger Danger’
March 13, 2006 – CipherTrust a pioneer in internet messaging security has
today launched TrustedSource Toolbar, a free plug and play software programme downloadable at http://research.ciphertrust.com/toolbar.php. The TrustedSource Toolbar uniquely protects home users’ email inboxes from offensive spam, online fraud and phishing attacks by verifying the reputation of the email sender.
The Toolbar is powered by CipherTrust’s proprietary TrustedSource research portal that continuously monitors the reputation of email senders around the world (through its network of over seven thousand IronMail appliances installed in global businesses), enabling it to identify spam mailers and phishing email senders instantly.
For the home email user, the TrustedSource Toolbar sits along the top of the inbox and displays a green, smiley face when the user highlights received mail from a verified sender and a red, ‘frowny’ face for email where the sender is unknown. This simple tool empowers the user to delete unknown or suspicious email from the inbox without having to open the mail. The Toolbar has a user-friendly interface, is unobtrusive on the desktop and it doesn’t require management or updates by the user.
Home email users can also join the TrustedSource community fight back against cybercriminals by using the Toolbar’s reporting capability. This enables the user to register any phishing, spam or other suspicious emails they do receive with CipherTrust, which in turn, alerts other home and business users against emerging threats through TrustedSource.
Paul Judge, CTO, CipherTrust said: “Our research indicates that the majority of sent email traffic is fraud related. With the launch of the TrustedSource Toolbar home email users can now benefit from CipherTrust’s reputation expertise gained from the corporate world, within their own home. It’s an unfortunate trend that online crime is becoming increasingly malicious and home users need additional protection beyond virus and firewall software to ensure their inboxes, bank account details and personal information remain uncompromised.”
Roger Walker, a regular eBay user and a previous victim of online phishing commented: “The TrustedSource Toolbar is fantastic in that it enables me to have greater control over my inbox. I shop online on a daily basis and have received phishing emails in the past. They are often so indistinguishable from the real thing that it is only through blind luck that I haven’t lost money to phishers. The beauty of the Trusted Source Toolbar is that its information on unscrupulous senders is always up to date and it’s really easy to install. If all home email users downloaded it we would reduce the success of these attacks dramatically, so I would urge all home internet users to get the free download now.”
TrustedSource Toolbar – Product details:
The TrustedSource Toolbar empowers consumers to influence sender reputations using innovative features:
. Reputation Indicator – instantly classifies the reputation of an incoming message – inoffensive, unverified, suspicious, spam/phishing – in order to immediately identify any potential threats
. Reporting to TrustedSource – this offers an easy way for consumers to flag and report spam and phishing attacks, influencing global sender reputation to the experts
. Flexible Support – provides support for multiple mail clients including Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, with Webmail support to follow
. Ease of Use – provides a simple and straightforward installation wizard with point-and-click usability
TrustedSource – Global detection, local protection
The TrustedSource Toolbar leverages data received from CipherTrust’s TrustedSource reputation engine. Like a virtual credit agency, TrustedSource assigns a reputation score to each IP address and further classifies senders as good, bad or suspicious based on an in-depth analysis of each sender. CipherTrust has the largest enterprise install base of any other messaging security appliance vendor, providing a unique view into the overall messaging security ecosystem.
CipherTrust Research – Thoughts, technology and innovation
The newly launched CipherTrust Research Portal is home to numerous industry resources including TrustedSource.org and SpamArchive.org – two of CipherTrust Research’s free tools to stop spam, fraud and phishing. The Portal also provides access to mindshare information and research updates, events and statistics. CipherTrust Research works tirelessly to improve the accuracy and technical leadership of the company’s messaging security offerings, as well as providing a community resource featuring tools, trends and strategies for comprehensive messaging network protection. Additionally, CipherTrust Research works closely with government and law enforcement agencies to share knowledge and provide expertise to help reduce global messaging fraud.