International Public-Private Initiative To Expedite Arrests, Convictions
Against 'Phishers'
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Representatives from a
number of industries and international law enforcement agencies today
announced the establishment of Digital PhishNet, a collaborative enforcement
operation that unites industry leaders in technology, banking, financial
services and online auctioneering with law enforcement to tackle "phishing," a
destructive and growing form of online identity theft.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )
Digital PhishNet establishes a single, unified line of communication
between industry and law enforcement, so critical data to fight phishing can
be compiled and provided to law enforcement in real time. Phishing is the
particularly harmful and deceptive emerging online threat that involves
directing consumers to phony Web sites, usually through forged or "spoofed"
spam e-mails, to input personal financial information such as credit card
numbers and passcodes. While other industry groups have focused on identifying
phishing Web sites and sharing best practices and case information, Digital
PhishNet is the first group of its kind to focus on aiding criminal law
enforcement and assisting in apprehending and prosecuting those responsible
for committing crimes against consumers through phishing.
Digital PhishNet brings together industry leaders from nine of the top 10
U.S. banks and financial services providers, four of the top five Internet
service providers and five digital commerce and technology companies, and
works with top federal and international law enforcement agencies.
Developing supporters of Digital PhishNet include America Online Inc.,
Digital River Inc., EarthLink Inc., Lycos Inc., Microsoft Corp., Network
Solutions, VeriSign Inc., the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and the U.S.
Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). More information can be found at
http://www.digitalphishnet.org .
"The key to stopping phishers and bringing them to justice is to identify
and target them quickly," said Dan Larkin, unit chief at the FBI's Internet
Crime Complaint Center (IC3). "Phishers create and dismantle these phony sites
very, very fast, stockpiling credit card numbers, passcodes and other personal
financial information over the course of just a couple of days, in order to
avoid detection. Digital PhishNet is a powerful response to this type of
online fraud because it facilitates critical data collection between a large
number of the targets of these crimes -- those who are on the front lines of
the fight against phishing -- and establishes a pipeline directly to law
enforcement, in real time, before the phisher has had time to disappear back
into the anonymity of cyberspace."
Participants in Digital PhishNet have come together to actively and
aggressively seek out phishing Web sites and identify the origins of the spam
e-mails designed to deceive consumers into visiting these phony Web sites. The
law enforcement supporters of Digital PhishNet have formed an alliance with
federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that will use the aggregated
data, along with various tools and strategies, to identify and arrest those
suspected of perpetrating phishing scams.
Deceptive and insidious phishing scams require an adept and multifaceted
approach by industry and law enforcement. Phishing scams usually are initiated
through spam e-mail messages that direct consumers to visit a phony Web site
-- often an exact replica of a legitimate corporate Web site -- and ask for
passwords and other sensitive personal or financial information. Phishers
"spoof" or falsify e-mail addresses, purporting to be associated with the
legitimate organizations they are targeting, and instruct consumers to visit
these sites in order to "update their account information." In many cases,
phishers also download spyware and viruses onto consumers' computers to track
their online activity or cause damage to their files and hard drives.
Comments
"Phishers are the street muggers of the digital age, using computers
instead of weapons to steal financial information and identities from innocent
people," said Tatiana Platt, chief trust officer and senior vice president for
Integrity Assurance for America Online. "Just like their street criminal
brethren, phishers should be tracked down, arrested and locked away, and AOL
is pleased to work with law enforcement agencies through Digital PhishNet to
help bring them to justice. Through our ongoing work with law enforcement and
the comprehensive suite of safety and security tools we provide our members,
AOL will continue to take any steps necessary to help protect our members from
cybercriminals and other dangers in the online world."
"The type of sophistication we've seen in recent phishing scams requires
an equally strong and sophisticated response," said Dave Alampi, vice
president of marketing for Digital River. "By collaborating with other
industry leaders, particularly in the technology world, and incorporating a
substantial law enforcement component, we believe we can more effectively
raise awareness and reduce this threat for Internet users. The creation of
Digital PhishNet should serve as a warning to phishers that the industry is
committed to meeting this challenge head on, and that there will be
consequences for their crimes."
"Criminals are employing increasingly sophisticated tactics to defraud
consumers, including phishing, online identity theft, malicious code attacks
and the dissemination of spyware," said Les Seagraves, chief privacy officer
and assistant general counsel for EarthLink. "Today's announcement puts
Internet scammers and spoofers on notice: We're coming after you with the
full force of industry and federal law enforcement combined. Working in
cooperation with Digital PhishNet will greatly help us in our efforts to
protect consumers and bring cybercriminals to justice."
"Lycos is proud to be associated with this organization and we will
continue to work together with other Internet leaders to help alleviate this
problem," said Jaime Carney, network abuse manager for Lycos. "We are fully
committed to protecting innocent people from being deceived online."
"Phishing is a particularly deceptive and destructive online threat," said
Nancy Anderson, vice president and deputy general counsel for Microsoft.
"Imposter Web sites can be extremely sophisticated and much more difficult to
discern from legitimate Web sites. These phishers move very quickly,
collecting as much personal financial data as they can before moving on to set
up shop under another phony identity. Digital PhishNet is an aggressive and
offensive attack against these cybercriminals and one that will make their
lives much more difficult."
"We believe this industry-law enforcement collaboration is the right
approach to protecting consumers and their online brands from fraudulent
activities," said Champ Mitchell, chairman and CEO of Network Solutions. "It
is a coordinated effort that brings together the capabilities and resources
-- those from technology, banking and financial services, together with law
enforcement -- needed to attack this growing problem."
"The financial return and success of phishing ploys have driven hackers to
move beyond initiating attacks for illicit notoriety and instead strive for
significant monetary gain through these rapidly growing scams," said Judy Lin,
executive vice president for VeriSign. "As such, hackers who launch phishing
attacks are formidable opponents and therefore demand a serious and concerted
response from the industry. The Digital PhishNet program is just that
response, bringing together required involvement from local, state and federal
law enforcement with private industry to effectively combat this destructive
force on electronic commerce."
About America Online
America Online Inc. (NYSE: TWX) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time
Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in
interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce
services.
About Digital River
Digital River Inc. (Nasdaq: DRIV), a global leader in e-commerce
outsourcing, builds and manages online businesses for more than 40,000
software publishers, manufacturers, distributors and online retailers. Its
multi-channel e-commerce solution, which supports both direct and indirect
sales, is designed to help companies of all sizes maximize online revenues as
well as reduce the costs and risks of running an e-commerce operation. The
company's comprehensive platform offers site development and hosting, order
management, fraud prevention, site merchandising, advanced reporting and
analytics, product fulfillment, e-marketing and multi-lingual customer
service.
Founded in 1994, Digital River is headquartered in Minneapolis with
offices in major U.S. and European cities. For more details about Digital
River, visit the corporate Web site at http://www.digitalriver.com or call
(952) 253-1234.
About EarthLink
"EarthLink revolves around you(TM)." Celebrating 10 years as a leading
national Internet service provider (ISP), Atlanta-based EarthLink
(Nasdaq: ELNK) has earned an award-winning reputation for outstanding customer
service and its suite of online products and services. According to the J.D.
Power and Associates 2004 Internet Service Provider Residential Customer
Satisfaction Study(SM), EarthLink is ranked highest in customer satisfaction
among dial up and high-speed Internet Service Providers. Serving over
5 million subscribers, EarthLink offers what every user should expect from
their Internet experience: high-quality connectivity, minimal drop-offs and
ISP-generated intrusions, and customizable features. Whether it's dial-up,
high-speed, Web hosting or wireless Internet service, EarthLink provides the
tools that best let individuals use and enjoy the Internet on their own terms.
Learn more about EarthLink by calling (800) EARTHLINK or visiting EarthLink's
Web site at http://www.earthlink.net .
About Lycos
Lycos Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daum Communications Corp., the
leading Internet company in Korea and a leader throughout the Asian markets.
Lycos Inc. has in its portfolio a broad range of highly rated, popular
specialty sites including Lycos.com, Angelfire.com, Hotbot.com,
Matchmaker.com, Quote.com, Tripod.com and Wired.com. Other Lycos products
include Lycos Mail and Gamesville. Lycos was acquired by Korean Daum
Communications Corp. in September 2004 and has its U.S. headquarters in
Waltham, Massachusetts. Daum Communications Corp. is traded on the
KOSDAQ: 035720, http://www.daum.net .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their
full potential.
About Network Solutions
Network Solutions, the world's leading registrar of domain names, offers a
full range of Web-related services, including domain names, Web sites and
e-mail. We make it simple and affordable for customers to build and manage a
Web presence through a single, experienced provider. Network Solutions manages
more than 7 million domain names. Additional information about Network
Solutions' offerings is available at http://www.networksolutions.com .
About VeriSign
VeriSign Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN) operates intelligent infrastructure services
that enable individuals and businesses to find, connect, secure and transact
across today's complex global networks. Additional news and information about
the company is available at http://www.verisign.com .
NOTE: Digital River is a registered trademark of Digital River Inc. All
other company and product names are trademarks, registrations or copyrights of
their respective owners.
EarthLink and the EarthLink logo are registered trademarks of EarthLink
Inc.
Lycos(R) is a registered trademark of Carnegie Mellon University.
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United
States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
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Related links:
http://www.microsoft.com
Photo Notes:
NewsCom:
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PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
press only, Andrew Weinstein of America
Online, +1-703-265-1746, andrewwstn@aol.com; or Gerri Dyrek of
Digital River, +1-952-253-8396, or gdyrek@digitalriver.com; or
Carla Shaw of EarthLink, +1-404-748-7267, or
shawcm@corp.earthlink.net; or Kathy O'Reilly of Lycos Inc.,
+1-781-370-3454, or koreilly@lycos-inc.com; or Marc Lallaman,
+1-503-443-7228, or marcl@wagged.com, or Rapid Response Team,
+1-503-443-7070, or rrt@wagged.com, both of Waggener Edstrom for
Microsoft; or Susan Wade of Network Solutions, +1-703-668-5057,
or swade@networksolutions.com; or Karen McGuirk Regan, Media
Relations, +1-781-696-2834, kregan@verisign.com, or Tom McCallum,
Investor Relations, +1-650-426-3744, tmccallum@verisign.com, both
of VeriSign
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