PayPal to Block Users With Old Browsers

PayPal, eBay's electronic payment service, plans to take the dramatic step of locking out people using older versions of Web browsers in order to stem phishing attacks.

PayPal said a "significant" group of people still use Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3, released in 1996, and IE 4, which debuted in 1997. Those browsers lack a phishing filter, which can block users from accessing a reported phishing Web site.

"In our view, letting users view the PayPal site on one of these browsers is equal to a car manufacturer allowing drivers to buy one of their vehicles without seatbelts," according to a paper released during the RSA security conference in San Francisco earlier this month.