RSA Launches Campaign to Raise Phishing Awareness

Security firm RSA has launched a campaign to make online bank customers aware of how to protect themselves from phishing and other kinds of online fraud. The company has named the campaign "Ten Days Against Online Fraud" and has set it up after acquiring confirmation from law enforcement agencies and industry groups across Europe. Itpro.co.uk published the news on March 22, 2007.

The company's prime motive behind the campaign is to educate people about phishing sites and how to stay away from them. phishing sites are fake websites that cyber criminals construct purporting some legitimate site. These sites make realistic appearing requests for users' personal details. Once users submit them the phishers crack those details and use them to hack the consumers' online banking information.

As part of the campaign, RSA has put up a website that provides simple and sensible suggestions, which online bank users can adopt while performing transactions over the Internet and not fall in the trap of phishing attacks and other similar frauds.

The website provides some statistics as well. It says that in U.K., auction site eBay's online payment branch PayPal has 15 million users. That is equivalent to one third of the adult population of U.K. and 50% of the country's online population.

As more and more of U.K.'s consumers go for online shopping, the popularity of PayPal increases. With that the chances of loss due to credit/debit card frauds also increase, said the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) on March 21, 2007 that Thriftyscot.co.uk published.

RSA conducted a survey to find that customers these days do not generally respond to e-mail that their banks send. It showed that 82% of account holders would not respond to their banks' e-mail fearing they could be scams or phishing. This has increased from 79% in 2005. Also half of them would not sign up for online banking. The survey also found that 44% of 1,678 adult respondents from eight countries were concerned also about trojans and keyloggers apart from phishing.

On the whole people were gradually becoming aware and cautious of online scams, the survey results indicated.

Related article: RSA Attendees Responsible for Wireless Vulnerability

» SPAMfighter News - 3/31/2007