The present invention is a method and system for providing a user with confirmation of the origin of a Web site and related information including the steps of registering a Web site with an assuring 3.sup.rd party, saving the registration on a registration server, entering in a database the Web site's Internet domain name and cross-referencing it to the registration data, retrieving the Web site's domain with an Internet browser, and either (1) using a client application tool to call for registration data for the domain name via a secure SSL connection with the registration server, determining if the domain has been registered, and returning and displaying registration data for the domain name as a confirmed identity, or (2) calling a program on the registration server in response to an HTML tag on the domain via a secure SSL connection and passing it the domain name, determining if the domain has been registered, determining if the domain name has been registered, and returning and displaying registration data for the domain name as a confirmed identity.
RELATED APPLICATIONS AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY
This application claims the benefit of and incorporates herein by reference the contents of the following co-pending applications: Application No. 60/279,328 filed Mar. 28, 2001, entitled "Website Identity Assurance"; Application No. 60/289,249 filed on May 7, 2001, entitled "TrustWatch"; and Application No. 60/295,728 filed on Jun. 4, 2001, entitled "TrustWatch True Site".
The authenticity of a website is tested with software that runs on a personal computing device and a service that is provided via the Internet. The software on the personal computing device is in the form of a proxy, or transparent component in the Internet Protocol implementation. The proxy receives all outbound messages, analyzes them and forwards or modifies them without the user's intervention. The service tests the IP address and/or the behavior of the target website.
A method and system for displaying the trusted status of a website by displaying a trust symbol that is displayed as part of the website so that they trust symbol does not scroll when the website is scrolled, preventing the trust symbol from ever being hidden from the user. Specifically, displaying the trust symbol in the comer or bottom of the web page works well. The trust symbol can include information about the website that may be displayed when the computer user interacts with the trust symbol. Both the trust symbol and the information displayed about the website can be generated dynamically by the third party validator for display on website. However the location of the display of the trust symbol remains under the control of the website operator so as not to interfere with the aesthetics of the site.
The authenticity of a website is tested with software that runs on a personal computing device and a service that is provided via the Internet. The software on the personal computing device is in the form of a proxy, or transparent component in the Internet Protocol implementation. The proxy receives all outbound messages, analyzes them and forwards or modifies them without the user's intervention. The service tests the IP address and/or the behavior of the target website.
Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems and software for analyzing data. In particular embodiments, for example, a set of data about a web site may be analyzed to determine whether the web site is likely to be illegitimate (e.g., to be involved in a fraudulent scheme, such as a phishing scheme, the sale of gray market goods, etc.). In an exemplary embodiment, a set of data may be divided into a plurality of components (each of which, in some cases, may be considered a separate data set). Merely by way of example, a set of data may comprise data gathered from a plurality of data sources, and/or each component may comprise data gathered from one of the plurality of data sources. As another example, a set of data may comprise a document with a plurality of sections, and each component may comprise one of the plurality of sections. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the analysis of a particular component may comprise certain tests and/or evaluations, and that the analysis of another component may comprise different tests and/or evaluations. In other cases, the analysis of each component may comprise similar tests and/or evaluations. The variety of tests and/or evaluations generally will be implementation specific.
An aspect of the present invention relates to methods and systems involving receiving an indicator of an attempted interaction of a client computing facility with an item of content associated with a website and presenting an indicator of reputation to a client computing facility attempting to interact with the web content. The indicator of reputation may be based at least in part upon whether an entity associated with the web content seeks to manipulate a user in order to obtain information from the user.
