How safe IS Safari exactly?

[DDar]

Okay, well I was doing the common application this weekend. It asks you for your Social Security number, and I entered it without thinking twice... However I remembered a post on Macrumours about how Phishing was common among Mac users because we used Safari, so I just got hit by an attack of paranoia. Though I still don't really understand exactly why the social Security number is so important, I do understand that it is.

Is there any chance that my number could have been stolen? D=
I don't really think that entering the number on the college application is the same as entering credit card information, but I AM really afraid of identity theft... What do you guys think? =(
Is there anything I should do? Any way I can find out if I have some sort of spyware that could have done this?

 

[Catfish_Man]

Safety is difficult to measure except after the fact (in terms of number of actual problems over a given time period). My understanding is that Safari is roughly as safe as any other modern browser; use caution (doublecheck the url before entering sensitive information, for example), but don't succumb to paranoia.

 

[EricNau]

You need not be concerned if you were on a legitimate site. You mainly run into problems when visiting sites via a link contained in a spam email, posing as a message from a legitimate company.

Visit this site to better understand phishing: www.paypal.com/fightphishing
...The examples are specific to paypal, but the concepts are universal.


On the mac, you don't need to worry so much about viruses and spyware. Just don't enter your password for any applications unless you know they're legitimate.