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Version 1.3 of the Deepnet Explorer browser checks blacklists and analyses whether URLs and sites are up to date with security features such as certificates and so on.

Should the site fail Deepnet's test, it will trigger a 'Phishing Alarm' to tell the user that the site they are viewing may not be all it claims to be.

'Phishing is about to become the number one weak spot in online security,' said Deepnet's Yurong Lin. 'Already financial institutions have had to refund around £4.5m to some 2,000 customers, according to the Association for Payment Clearing Services (Apacs). Now, as big business toughens up and becomes less sympathetic to phishing victims,

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consumers need to do more to protect themselves from corruption in e-commerce.'

Lin told us that while the browser is free to end-users, it is looking to commercial online entities for revenue-sharing partnerships. He said that the company was already in negotiations with news aggregator moreover, and was talking to a number of corporates to provide customised versions where a company could define its own blacklists as well as add in other functions to access corporate resources. Lin also wants to hook up with ISPs and search engines, where the technology could weed out unsavoury results.

Deepnet Explorer is considering additions such as email plug-ins and versions for other platforms, although there is no schedule for this as yet.

Even so, the browser is a well-featured affair. The 2.4Mb download includes a browser with pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, auto form filling and logging on features as well as support for more sophisticated functions such as mouse gestures. In addition it includes a newsreader and a file-sharing client. Lin also pledges it is 'free and clean,' meaning there's no spyware hidden away.

It is available from the Deepnet website.