Experts: Phishing Scams Have Increased and Become Difficult to Trace

The security experts said that e-mails carrying a link are very dangerous. The moment user clicks on it, problem comes up. Interestingly, it does not matter whether the e-mail is well or poorly written; it is just the link which causes the real damage.

The detection of phishing Websites is very tough as hackers make use of company's authentic logos and designs. Therefore, one could not figure out whether the private details such as username and password are going in safe hands or not.

Security and Research Manager for security software maker McAfee Inc. in Santa Clara, Calif., Dave Marcus said that perpetrators operate their businesses with salaried employees, which include professional writers as well as programmers, as reported by CBCnews.ca on June 25, 2008.

This report was found true as another similar report prepared by Gartner (security research firm) in December 2007 revealed that phishing multiplied by almost 800% from April 2003 to May 2007 and is still increasing.

Also, now the technique of phishing has been modified which is quite apparent with the sudden emergence of a spear phishing.

Manager of SophosLabs Canada at Sophos, Dmitry Samosseiko added that many phishers target the gaming Websites to steal the user's "virtual money", as reported by CBCnews.ca on June 25, 2008.

Matt Richard, Director of iDefense's Rapid Response Team, commented on the latest case of spear phishing of Verisign and said that it is all about social engineering. And he denied that the attackers send any rigged files. Instead, he claimed that they send harmful codes that help them to obtain personal data of the users under the guise of some official and authentic source, as reported by SCMAGAZINE in the 1st week of June 2008.

Further, to overcome these sites, Dmitry advised that users should always visit the banking and money related sites by typing the Web address on the bar rather than clicking on any attached link in the mail.

Related article: Experts Find Two Vulnerabilities in Firefox

» SPAMfighter News - 7/14/2008