Back in November, I shared the first public release of PhishTank SiteChecker, a Firefox extension. Written by PhishTank moderator MASA, SiteChecker has been rapidly updated and enhanced over the last few months. Some of those enhancements have made the extension smarter and more efficient, which saves PhishTank.com some bandwidth (thanks, MASA!).

I encourage those using the extension already to get the latest version, which is 4.03 as I type this.

If you haven’t yet tried it, give SiteChecker a whirl. It’s available in more than 20 languages, and has a detailed features list, and even a screencast (video demo).

What are you waiting for?

Get the latest version of SiteChecker.

Everyone who has ever submitted a phish to or verified a phish for PhishTank deserves a pat on the back today. Congrats to all of you for contributing to the phishing data source chosen by Mozilla to compare phishing protection in Firefox 2.0 to Internet Explorer 7.

That’s right. You read correctly. Mozilla chose PhishTank over all of the other phishing data source sources available to test the effectiveness of new phishing protection features in the two browsers.

The way the testing worked is this: Mozilla contracted third-party evaluator Smartware to track Firefox 2.0 and IE7’s respective accuracy rates in identifying phishing scams. The same scams that were originally netted and verified by you.

In the end, Firefox 2.0 found and blocked 243 phishing Web sites that IE7 failed to identify, and was deemed the better of the two at keeping you safe from phishing.

Brian Krebs of Washington Post went into greater detail about the testing, and mentioned PhishTank SiteChecker, a Firefox extension.

Though we admittedly have Firefox and Internet Explorer on the brain today, we urge everyone making a browser to use PhishTank data (API, Data File, Check URL Method).

I’m pleased to announce the first public release of PhishTank SiteChecker, a Firefox extension built by MASA.

An experienced Firefox developer, MASA has built several extensions. With SiteChecker, MASA used the PhishTank data file (details) to bring PhishTank’s judgments right into the browser.

PhishTank SiteChecker works with all versions of Firefox from 1.0 to 2.0, and Flock, from versions 0.4 to 0.8.

MASA moved quickly, building this extension on his own, reacting rapidly to feedback from the PhishTank team. I can personally say that MASA has been relentless (in a good way) about improving the extension. We look forward to helping others.

Three SiteChecker features I’d like to call attention to:

1. The block page
   SiteChecker displays a block page when you visit a URL known to PhishTank as an active, online phish. This focused page lets you view the PhishTank detail page, or even continue on to take a look.
2. Translations
   MASA has recruited folks around the Internet so that SiteChecker comes with English, Swedish, Dutch, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Italian, Spanish, French, and Brazilian translations right away. Contact MASA (via SiteChecker site) if you want to help translate to other languages.
3. Thoughtful preferences
   The default preferences are fine, but MASA built in some options which you might explore, including whether the extension is on or off and where the Phishy Fishy icon takes you when clicked.

I know there are others working to add PhishTank functionality into Firefox in different ways. We encourage other developers to use the PhishTank data to bring the intelligence of the PhishTank community into the applications and services people use every day. Note: that includes other Firefox efforts, which I know are underway… there is no one true solution. We’ll happily tell everyone we can about each one.

In the future, we’ll build a gallery of the different options for using PhishTank data. There are several about to be completed.

But go ahead and try PhishTank SiteChecker today.

On a related note: in response to some kind questions from those looking to give credit to PhishTank for data usage, Allison and Aaron put together the PhishTank attribution guidelines. If you want to link to PhishTank, here’s a host of logos in various sizes for your use. This page should answer your questions about how to distribute credit to the PhishTank community.