Why the Intarweb is doomed

[link|http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/07/why_phishing_works/|Why Phishing Works - The Register]

In the study by Dhamija et al, 23 per cent of the users don't even look at cues provided by the web browser, such as the address or status bars. Many have no idea what the padlock icon means; in fact, one participant confidently asserted that the padlock indicates that the website can't set cookies.

Instead of browser cues, these people look at the web page itself. Does it "look" and "feel" right? Are there VeriSign logos on the page? How about animations? Does it seem authoritative? In some cases, the padlock icon on the web page itself was enough to convince some that the site was safe, more so than if the padlock was in the browser's chrome.

and

The site that fooled all but one participant in the study was for [link|http://www.bankofthewest.com|Bank of the West] (that's a link to the real website ... or is it?). On that site was a cute animated video of a bear. Evidently that tickled a number of the users who reloaded the page several times to see that animated bear. In fact, some of the participants said that the animation was proof that the site was legit, since it would take too much effort to copy it!

The ordinary folks in the study also figured that if a site has ads on it, then that increases the likelihood that it's not a fake. Likewise, the presence of a favicon (the little icon that appears in the address bar to the left of the URL) was deemed indicative of a site that was not out to steal your money and identity. Amazing what people glom onto.

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Post #257,969 by admin 6/7/06 11:26:11 AM Reply	Why the Intarweb is doomed [link\|http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/07/why_phishing_works/\|Why Phishing Works - The Register] In the study by Dhamija et al, 23 per cent of the users don't even look at cues provided by the web browser, such as the address or status bars. Many have no idea what the padlock icon means; in fact, one participant confidently asserted that the padlock indicates that the website can't set cookies. Instead of browser cues, these people look at the web page itself. Does it "look" and "feel" right? Are there VeriSign logos on the page? How about animations? Does it seem authoritative? In some cases, the padlock icon on the web page itself was enough to convince some that the site was safe, more so than if the padlock was in the browser's chrome. and The site that fooled all but one participant in the study was for [link\|http://www.bankofthewest.com\|Bank of the West] (that's a link to the real website ... or is it?). On that site was a cute animated video of a bear. Evidently that tickled a number of the users who reloaded the page several times to see that animated bear. In fact, some of the participants said that the animation was proof that the site was legit, since it would take too much effort to copy it! The ordinary folks in the study also figured that if a site has ads on it, then that increases the likelihood that it's not a fake. Likewise, the presence of a favicon (the little icon that appears in the address bar to the left of the URL) was deemed indicative of a site that was not out to steal your money and identity. Amazing what people glom onto. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #257,973 by jake123 6/7/06 11:51:09 AM Reply	Clearly, there's not enough conceptual noshing happening for those folks. On the bright side, history shows that as the generation moves on through, the ones coming up, having learned about the medium in their youth, do a much better job of understanding it. --\n-------------------------------------------------------------------\n* Jack Troughton jake at consultron.ca \n [link\|http://consultron.ca\|http://consultron.ca] [link\|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca\|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca] \n Kingston Ontario Canada [link\|news://news.consultron.ca\|news://news.consultron.ca] *\n-------------------------------------------------------------------
Post #257,982 by boxley 6/7/06 12:36:31 PM Reply	disagree, the next generation will understand much less cars have been around for over 100 years yet most drivers are clueless about mass and velocity much less stopping distances. thanks, Bill Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
Post #258,038 by jake123 6/7/06 5:20:17 PM Reply	Cars aren't media my point was about media techs, not all techs. How well do people understand the memes of television compared to fifty years ago? That's more along the lines of what I'm talking about.... --\n-------------------------------------------------------------------\n* Jack Troughton jake at consultron.ca \n [link\|http://consultron.ca\|http://consultron.ca] [link\|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca\|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca] \n Kingston Ontario Canada [link\|news://news.consultron.ca\|news://news.consultron.ca] *\n-------------------------------------------------------------------
Post #257,979 by drewk 6/7/06 12:28:28 PM Reply	Too true Amazing what people glom onto. I can understand not noticing or remembering the lock icon in the chrome. But to then notice the favicon and think it matters? Although to be fair that does look like an indicator in the browser chrome. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]

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