[ALUG] "pharming"

Hi Folks,

I've just read a Guardian article this morning about the "pharming" scam -- unlike "phishing" where you click on a real-looking URL in an email, with a false one hidden behind it, this depends on a rogue program infiltrated into the computer which re-directs a genuine URL to a false address which then mimics the real one. See:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1442474,00.html

The article concludes:

In a reversal of current internet security protocols, banks may attempt to tackle the virus by proving their own identity to customers when they visit their sites.

I would have thought the simple solution was for people just to use the IP address, e.g.

http://155.136.80.71/EbankLoginStuff

instead of

http://www.rbs.co.uk/EbankLoginStuff

for the Royal Bank of Scotland. Or am I missing a trick?

Best wishes to all, Ted.

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