Frying up Some Phish

Washington Mutual joined American Express, PayPal, McAfee, AOL, MasterCard and a number of other companies at the first "Phish Fry" in June. The Summit, which was coordinated by TRUSTe and the Anti-Phishing Working Group, was called to discuss what many companies feel is the first line of defense against such attacks: consumer education.The event was held in San Francisco and featured comments from 50 executives who discussed the current state of phishing and spoofing and what can be done to coordinate bringing the word to consumers on how to avoid the attacks.

Participants agreed that phishing is eroding public trust in the Internet and that many people don't know they are being attacked. For example, a representative from Microsoft said that the company recently conducted a study and found that half of their users didn't know if they have been targeted by phishing attacks.

By holding the event, participants hope to begin coordinating a campaign to educate the general public about what they can do to avoid being victims.

Copyright © 2005 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 15, No. 6, 7/05