thunderbird / thunderbird/thunderbird-android

[EPIC] Simple Phishing Protection

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#5,014 1 comment 9 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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status: needs design type: enhancement
Dominant language
Kotlin
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
3d 3h
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Often, not to say almost always, when a mail contains a link with a link text looking like an URL is not matching the actually link target. Usually it is due to tracking wrappers but it could also be to deceive the reader in some phising mails.
The problem in the later case is quite obvious, while the one in the former one is mainly that links don't open in their corresponding apps. For example clicking a YouTube link opens it in the browser instead of the NewPipe app...
So this could be either just a convenience problem but also a privacy (tracking) or security (phishing) problem.

What I like to have is the option, ideally enabled by default, which after clicking such a link displays a dialog that briefly informs about the problem, shows both links (the link text and the actual URL) and allows choosing which one to open.
Optionally there could also be the option to remember the decision and not to show the dialog again.

Contributor guide

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First steps

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  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue names no files, tests, or entry points. Start by tracing how clicked links are handled in the Android app and identify the scope of the proposed protection. Done means mismatched visible and target URLs are explained in a dialog, with a choice of which to open and an optional remembered decision.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
android, kotlin
Domain
mobile-dev, security
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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