Checking a Web URL request against a database of known phishing sites is not the better anti-phishing method. At least Blue Coat Systems doesn't think so. That's why the provider of WAN Application Delivery and Secure Web Gateway added an anti-phishing feature to its ProxySG appliances.

The new feature, called Real-Time Anti-Phishing protection, doesn't rely on database of known phishing but examine each URL "on the fly" based on proprietary algorithms. As soon as an user tries to access a web page, the appliance looks for it in the WebFilter database. If not, a query is sent to the Blue Coat Labs where the page is analyzed, categorize as a phishing site or not. If so, the appliance will block the resquest and/or warn the user. Blue Coat assures the process takes between 250 and 750 milliseconds.

Actually, this technology is quite similar to the web filtering one - WebFilter - Blue Coat already uses in their appliances. WebFilter is based on a proxy database of over 15 millions website ratings representing billions of web pages and on a technology called Dynamic Real-Time Rating.