New anti-phishing tool on Yahoo

Date: August 23, 2006
Source: news.com.com
By: Joris Evers

Yahoo is testing a new security feature that lets users customize their login page, a measure designed to thwart information-thieving phishing scams.

The feature requires people to create a unique "sign-in seal" on a specific PC. This seal--a text message or photo--will be displayed on the Yahoo login page when visited with that computer, according to a description of the feature on Yahoo's Web site.

"A sign-in seal is a secret between the computer you set it up on and Yahoo," the Yahoo Web site states. "So when you sign in to Yahoo from this computer, your sign-in seal tells you that you're seeing a genuine Yahoo site, not a phishing site."

Phishing is one of the most common online threats. In May, just over 20,000 phishing Web sites--a record--were reported to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, the organization said. Phishing typically combines spam e-mail with fraudulent Web sites to trick people into giving up sensitive information, such as a Yahoo user ID and password.
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