PhishNet: A Rule-Enhanced Machine Learning Approach for Securing Against Phishing Threats

This project is a lightweight Python-based phishing URL detector that checks and blocks suspected phishing sites by analyzing URL patterns, SSL certificates, and domain age. The tool works cross-platform and modifies the system's hosts file to block malicious URLs.

🙌 Contributors

• Sahil Kadam – Lead Developer
• Yugandhar S – Co-Developer, Tester
• Dr. S. Sathya Priya – Project Guide and Corresponding Author

🚀 Features

• Detects phishing URLs based on:
  • Suspicious patterns in URLs
  • Free domain usage
  • Embedded IP addresses
  • Dangerous keywords
  • Invalid SSL certificate
  • Domain age (< 30 days)
• Blocks URLs by adding entries to the local hosts file
• Works on both Windows and Unix systems
• Simple command-line interface

⚠️ Requirements & Notes

• ✅ Admin privileges are required to modify the system hosts file and block URLs.
• 🌐 Internet access is needed to verify SSL certificates and fetch WHOIS domain info.

pip install requests