In independent reviews by technology media and academic researchers, the free Netcraft Antiphishing Toolbar has been found to be more effective than antiphishing tools in IE7, Firefox 2 and other toolbars.
- Carnegie Mellon University Researchers (PDF): "We designed our first experiment to test the ability of each toolbar to accurately detect "fresh" phishing web sites identified within 36 hours of the experiment. ... The Netcraft Toolbar was the most effective, identifying 48 out of 50 phishing sites (96%)." The next best toolbar was only able to identify 34 (68%).
- CNet: "We found that IE 7 consistently failed to catch phishing sites less than 1 hour old, although IE 7 caught all phishing sites known for at least 1 hour or more. Most phishing sites are removed after their initial 72 hours. We found that stand-alone antiphishing filters, such as that from Netcraft, performed far better than IE 7 in flagging brand-new phishing sites."
- ZDNet: "In testing on live phishing sites, however, IE 7 RC1 failed to identify as many phishing sites as Netcraft's free IE toolbar."
- 3sharp: In a study funded by Microsoft, researchers at 3sharp found that the Netcraft toolbar blocked more phishing URLs than IE7 or any other toolbar tested. "Netcraft’s mature toolbar has clearly succeeded in leveraging Netcraft’s large existing database of Web servers to provide good anti-phishing protection. ... The Netcraft Toolbar also offers some useful features, like its Risk Meter, that may appeal to users who want to know more about the sites they’re visiting."
The Netcraft Toolbar Community is a giant neighborhood watch scheme for the Internet, empowering the most alert and security-aware members to defend the rest of the community against phishing frauds, which to date has blocked over 650,000 phishing urls aimed at customers of over 900 institutions.