In brief

  • Brave has added anti-phishing technology to its web browser.
  • PhishFort’s open-source tech detects Web3 phishing scams.
  • Web3 phishing scams are on the rise and getting more sophisticated, says PhishFort.

Brave, the privacy-centric web browser that blocks ad tracking and awards users its Basic Attention Token (BAT), announced today that it has further beefed up its security with the addition of anti-phishing tools.

The browser now implements the open-source technology of PhishFort, an anti-phishing and brand protection firm. PhishFort is already partnered with crypto companies such as Binance Labs and MyEtherWallet, and has been at the forefront of detecting and spreading the word about Web3 phishing scams.

For example, PhishFort has been writing about the rise of scam decentralized apps that claim to be the real thing, aiming to fool users into giving up their credentials in the process.

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“When you’re a crypto-user, your username and password are only the start of your problems—and phishers are beginning to realize this,” PhishFort wrote in a January report. “What’s new about these attacks is that they’re beginning to exploit the specific tools that we use to interface with our crypto.”

“They use a combination of urgency, fear of missing out, and fear of being negatively affected (by a hard fork, ICO, token migration, or other actionable item) with the hopes that the targeted person will act quickly and never notice they are interacting with a malicious application,” reads another post about phishing scams in DeFi apps.

PhishFort’s solution is an ever-updated list of known scams and safe sites, which is now integrated directly within Brave. So when you’re using Brave to interact with Web3 dapps, you’ll be alerted if you’re treading into unsafe waters.

Brave’s announcement didn’t go beyond a single tweet today, so details on the integration are a bit thin. However, we imagine that frequent users of the increasingly popular browser—particularly those that interact with cryptocurrency and dapps—are likely to encounter the technology before too long.

Before leaving, make sure to read our full review of Brave browser.

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