Comment by heipei
5 years ago
So what would they use instead? It's not like there are any other free, real-time and mostly accurate malicious-URL databases around for people to plug into their browsers and products.
5 years ago
So what would they use instead? It's not like there are any other free, real-time and mostly accurate malicious-URL databases around for people to plug into their browsers and products.
Nothing at all. Many people survive exposure to the internet without being protected by corporate firewalls, think-of-the-children filters and antivirus.
Or do we expect UK citizens to curl up in fetal position and start screaming as soon as they leave their country because they're no longer protected by their ISP filters?
As someone who tracks phishing pages I would disagree. The amount of really high-quality fast flux phishing put out every day on completely legitimate-looking domains is astonishing. I know plenty of people who would immediately fall for it, and I wouldn't blame them one bit.
I don't doubt that phishing exists, but it's still a tail risk, it's not like the majority of the internet population got scammed 24/7 before google stepped in. So if google were to abuse that power then we could choose living with an increased risk instead of trusting them. At least until another solution is found.
Perhaps “comes the hour, comes the man” would apply? It's a difficult problem, but if there was an urgent need for a solution, I'm sure one could be found.