PhishBouncer: An HTTPS Proxy for Attribute-Based Prevention of Phishing Attacks

This paper describes an innovative approach toward defending against phishing attacks by using HTTPS proxying and attribute-based checks. After a short overview of phishing, the authors describe the functional architecture of the PhishBouncer HTTPS proxy together with various deployment options. They then explain a number of anti-phishing algorithms implemented as plugins and highlight which attributes of phishing sites they consider. Next, they describe in detail how the proxy intercepts SSL traffic for HTTPS proxying. To assess the effectiveness and applicability of this prototype, they performed extensive experimental testing.