PayPal: Safari Won't Get Blocked [Updated]

by , 9:25 AM EDT, April 21st, 2008

PayPal revealed late last week that it may start blocking Web browsers that don't include anti-phishing measures like EV SSL, which raised concerns that Safari users would no longer be able to conduct transactions with the online payment service. Despite Safari's lack of EV SSL support, PayPal plans to continue supporting Apple's Web browser and instead will consider blocking older users that rely on older Web browsers and operating systems.

PayPal has been considering the move to block older browsers and operating systems because of the volume of phishing scams that use fake PayPal-looking Web sites to trick people into giving up personal information.

According to Michael Oldenburg, PayPal's manager of Corporate Communications, the company is in the process of developing a system that will block PayPal customers from logging into the online payment system with obsolete Web browsers running on outdated operating systems, like Internet Explorer 4 running on Windows 98.

"In doing so, we better protect our customers from viewing a phishing site through their browser," Mr. Oldenburg said. "We have absolutely no intention of blocking current versions of any browsers, including Apple's Safari, from our website."

While PayPal's intentions are good, their plan will do little to prevent scammers from stealing information since blocking browsers won't prevent users from visiting bogus sites that look like PayPal. Instead, it will only block people that don't use approved browsers from visiting the legit PayPal site.

[This article has been updated with additional information from PayPal.]