Microsoft, Visa, eBay join phish reporting network - update 1

02/16/05 - newratings.com

NEW YORK, February 16 (newratings.com) – Microsoft (MSFT), eBay, PayPal and Visa Tuesday announced their decision to participate in a network that would develop a central database of known scammers in a bid to curb the growing menace of phishing attacks.

Phishing is a fraud wherein online fraudsters try to trick internet users by sending out emails or links to web pages mimicking popular websites. These Phishing e-mails and sites generally seek sensitive information, such as bank account numbers or passwords from internet users, and misuse the same. IT security firm WholeSecurity will operate the newly launched Phish Reporting Network that would allow companies to report fraudulent sites to a central database. These sites can then be blocked by the member companies from their individual security applications. "Phishing is the fastest growing segment of spam being sent worldwide today, victimising both legitimate online companies whose brands are being hijacked and consumers who are unwittingly providing their personal information to criminals," said Ryan Hamlin, general manager of the safety technology and strategy group at Microsoft. Tim Lee, vice president of global e-commerce at Visa, added, "Visa is focused not just on shutting down phishing sites, but preventing phishing emails from ever reaching consumers.” “eBay and PayPal's participation in the Phish Report Network is one of many steps we have taken to improve security of the e-commerce experience," said Howard Schmidt, eBay and PayPal's chief security strategist and former White House cyber-security advisor.