Consumer Reports is recommending Mac users dump Safari due to its lack of protection against phishing. The publication’s annual Internet security survey is recommending Firefox or Opera instead. Safari doesn’t include any anti-phishing tools, while the other browsers-and IE7-warn users when they try to access a known phishing or malware infected site and blocks it. Microsoft says the upcoming IE8 will also include an anti-malware tool as well.

          Mac users are just as likely to fall for the fake sites as people running Windows, said Jeff Fox, CR’s technology editor. “There is no significant difference regarding the likelihood of giving away information, he said. “Mac users are indistinguishable from Windows users here.”

          This is the one area where the Mac doesn’t have an advantage in security, Fox continued. “Significantly fewer Mac users were using antiphishing technologies, but they were pretty much identical to Windows users about giving personal information.”

Safari has been under fire recently. In April, Paypal, one of the biggest targets for phishers, announced it would block Safari, saying it was insecure because of the lack of anti-phishing tools. It later reversed that decision saying it would allow the current version to access their website. So far Apple has been mum about the controversy surrounding its browser and has not announced the release of any upcoming anti-phishing or anti-malware tools on the way.

It appears that the OS’s resistance to viruses has led them to believe it doesn’t have to worry about phishing attacks. I think Consumer Reports has proven that to be foolhardy at best.