Blog

Experts in cyber-intelligence and Internet security have predicted a significant increase in phishing attacks over the Thanksgiving weekend, traditionally the busiest of the holiday shopping season.

Last year, Internet intelligence gathering companies reported a significant spike in phishing threats and malicious URLs between October and December, with the most detected around the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. These scams are typically used to trick shoppers into giving their debit or credit card numbers, or to download malware.

Before you shop online, be sure to consult the WOT ratings and scorecards to help you determine if a site is trustworthy. Please rate sites yourself too, and let everyone know about your experiences with online vendors.

Or maybe just watch some football and eat leftover turkey...

Black Friday is just days away! The day after Thanksgiving, the American holiday which falls on the fourth Thursday of November, is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, and the opening of the holiday shopping season. This year, before you go to the mall, do your homework first.

Black Friday online shopping sites are a good source for all the best deals and information, including those early morning "door buster" specials and "sneak peeks" at specials. The pages are updated every day with the upcoming sales so that you can plan your shopping - online and at the store.

As I was browsing these sites today, I saw updates for Wal-Mart, ToysRUs, Costco, Circuit City and much more.

Check out these:

• Black Friday 2008
• Black Friday
• Black Friday Ads
• Black Friday Gotta Deal

For safer online shopping, read our tips about online shopping.

The new version of WOT extends the security protection of its popular browser add-on to the top three Internet-based email services -- Google Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail. WOT checks links embedded in email and warns users of dangerous websites to help them avoid spyware, spam, phishing, identity theft and other Internet fraud, before they risk clicking.

Read the entire story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/WOT/Web_of_Trust/prweb1611904.htm and watch the excellent video by Deborah.

There is a new weekly newsletter that showcases innovation across the Mozilla community. The first issue is now out: http://labs.mozilla.com/2008/11/aboutlabs-issue-1/

In this month's newsletter, Esa writes about the recent user survey results and we introduce you to Bill Mullins, an expert Internet security blogger you will want to begin reading.

Have you ever wondered what the little human figures next to the rating icons mean or how to increase your user level? Some of our curious WOT users wanted to know, and you can read the answers in the Ask WOT section. Plus, we introduce another one of our platinum level users, duckman8.

Read our newsletter here, and if you want to subscribe (or unsubscribe), you can set it in "Privacy settings" in your profile. Don't forget to press "Submit" at the bottom of the page after making changes.

Congratulations to the three lucky winners of the $100 gift certificate from amazon.com. One winner is from India, and the other two are from Ohio and New Jersey in the USA.

Our appreciation goes out to all of you who completed the WOT user survey. Your feedback and suggestions will help us continue to develop and improve WOT in the future.

You can read more about our survey in the upcoming November Inside MyWOT newsletter. Subscribe (and unsubscribe) in "Privacy settings" in your profile. Don't forget to press "Submit" at the bottom of the page after making changes.