Microsoft to stop phishing

Date: March 21, 2006
Source: PC WORLD
By: Jeremy Kirk

Microsoft Monday unveiled a global initiative to crack down on cybercriminals who engage in phishing. The company will set in motion more than 100 legal actions against phishers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) by the end of June, according to a release.

Phishing attacks use spam to entice Internet users to visit what appear to be legitimate e-commerce Web sites but are in fact phony sites controlled by cybercriminals. Users are encouraged to enter personal data such as passwords and bank account or credit card details, which the criminals can then exploit to commit crimes.

Neil Holloway, president of Microsoft EMEA, introduced the company's Global Phishing Enforcement Initiative (GPEI) at a technology debate in Brussels hosted by the European Internet Services Providers Association and cosponsored by Interpol.

Three years ago, the main problem centered around spam, Holloway said. But over the last 12 months, phishing has become "the next wave of cybercrime," he said.


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