Protecting Personal Data Against Phishing Users’ Growing Challenge

With the escalation in the volume of phishing Websites, consumers and security professionals are faced with a growing challenge of protecting financial and personal information.

Phishing scams continue to develop and improve to newer forms. A recent development involves the erroneous downloading of 'crimeware' that steals personal information on a user's PC as soon as the user clicks the phishing link embedded in the e-mail, the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) said. The APWG comprises of various banks, technology companies, Internet retailers, and government organizations, which jointly work to create anti-phishing awareness.

The fourth week of October 2007 saw a new phishing e-mail purporting to represent ABSA Bank that was circulating on the Internet. The e-mail addressed to various ABSA customers supposedly informs that a number of complaints have been coming to the bank from numerous customers that their online accounts were being illegally used.

The e-mail asks users to click a link to access a site for the purpose of authenticating their private information. Customers who fail to comply will find their accounts suspended, the e-mail warns.

The site referred to in the e-mail is actually that of the University of Columbia and it is concealed in the tiny symbols of 'smiley faces', the emoticons in the e-mail.

Those users who confirm their details are led to the genuine ABSA online banking site, also not any wiser, from where their money is stolen.

Some other phishing attempts in the recent past perpetrated the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In that scam, an e-mail facilitated a tax refund for the recipient by requiring him to click a link.

In June 2007, there were over 30,000 separate phishing sites in the name of 146 brands, according to the APWG. The group also said that as many as 95% of phishing attacks targeted the financial sector alone.

Statistics relating to phishing scams suggest that the US is second after China in hosting most phishing scams globally. Meanwhile, phishing sites maliciously stealing information are now active for a lesser number of days from almost seven in October 2004 to 3.6 in July 2007, the Anti-Phishing Working Group said.

Related article: Portage Child Benefit Cardholders Under Phishing Scam

» SPAMfighter News - 11/6/2007