Ignore those surveys that suggest the good guys are
winning the battle
against phishing. They’re not.
Cyber criminals created a record number of phishing websites in
July
and also hijacked a record number of brands to help them do their
work,
according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium that
monitors
online fraud.
The number of phishing sites rose to 14,191 in July, an 18%
increase
over May, which had the previous all-time high, the Working Group
said.
The latest figures show that online criminals are now
diversifying to
target smaller financial institutions, internet service providers
and
even government agencies. The financial services industry still
gets
the lion’s share of attacks, with more than nine out of 10
phishing
sites aimed at the sector.
The technical sophistication of phishing attacks is also on the
rise,
with 1,850 phishing sites attempting to download a Trojan horse
that
conceals itself in another, harmless-looking file and is designed
to
gather personal information or download other malicious programs
to
an infected computer.
Phishing: same old problem, still no solution. I know a number
of
organisations make up the Anti-Phishing Working Group, but there
has
to be more end-value than figures that say phishing’s reaching
record
levels. Let’s see some solutions, not statistics.