The problem

1. Phishing is largely known as email scams, for example, you get a email saying change your password, you click on the link provided and it brings you into a fake website which looks identical to your intended site. If you change the password, you just got conned, you just gave your password to a hacker. The hacker can now withdraw your money.

2. There is a variant of Phishing known as Pharming. That is, you type an URL, for example, www.tomahawkcomputers.com on your browser, it brings you into a fake site which looks identical to your intended site!

How does Tomahawk Desktop protect you?

Phishing

Your discipline protects you against any Phishing attempt. Check before you click. You may either roll your mouse over the link on the web browser or on your email client and check is the domain part is same as what it claims. For example, in our above example, the domain part should be tomahawkcomputers.com, if it is not, or if it is an IP address or if the spelling different, then it is a Phishing attempt, just delete the email.

Pharming

To avoid Phishing, safest thing you could do is, carefully type the URL. What if it still brings you to the wrong site? You are simply helpless in Pharming unless your operating system protects you. Tomahawk Desktop is designed to protect you from Pharming. Lets see how.

In Internet, to connect to a web site, your browser needs to know the IP address of that site. The domain name is for you to memorize the site name, computers communicate by using numbers called IP addresses.

Lets take a scenario, you go to an Internet hotspot with a laptop and wants to access your bank account. You switch on your laptop, now laptop needs a compatible IP address to access the Internet hotspot's wireless network. The Internet hotspot's network sends you an IP address and other network information such as gateway IP address, DNS server IP addresses, etc.

You type your bank URL in your browser. Now your browser needs to know the IP address of your bank. Your browser now queries the assigned DNS server for the IP address. The job of the DNS server is to find the correct IP address of the given name.

This is where a rouge system administrator can send an IP address of a fake site. If the site looks identical, without suspecting you submit your credentials to login into your account. This is how a hacker capture your password information.

Above scenario is not limited to your laptop, it is the same if you use a computer at a rogue place or if your ISP's DNS server is hacked.

Why you got caught was, you asked the IP address from a 3rd party DNS server.

Tomahawk Desktop is designed in such a way that it has its own DNS server. You consult your own DNS server, it always gives you the correct IP address even if you use the hacker's network.