PayPal: Safari Open To Online Fraud

February 28, 2008 9:51 a.m. EST

Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - PayPal, the online payment transaction service owned by auction giant eBay, suggested Wednesday users of Apple's Safari browser may not be safe from fraud.

"Apple, unfortunately, is lagging behind what they need to do, to protect their customers," PayPal chief information security officer Michael Barrett told MacWorld.

Safari is the default browser on Apple Macs, as well as the iPhone.

PayPal, which has been a prime target of fraudsters, is recommending its users pick the latest versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Firefox or Opera.

The browsers include technology PayPal believes gives users more confidence they are connecting to the legitimate service, rather than a look-alike site operated by fraudsters.

Safari uses only Secure Sockets Layer to scramble transaction data, where the other browsers include Extended Validation (EV) certificates that turn the address bar green to indicate a real site.

However, a Microsoft study in 2007 found casual Internet browsers overlook the EV safety signal.