Originally published July 8 2005
Verisign says phishing attacks are still frequent, but less profitable so far this year
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A recent article from Forbes says that while phishing attacks are still common, they're less profitable this year thanks to greater cooperation between companies and ISPs, according to Verisign's "State of the Internet" report.
While the scams that daily flood our e-mail in-boxes show no signs of abating, there is some good news for the users who have to sort through them all.
So says VeriSign (nasdaq: VRSN - news - people), in its latest "State of Internet Security" address covering the first three months of 2005.
Phishing attacks--the attempted theft of information such as user names, passwords or credit-card numbers--are increasingly more sophisticated, VeriSign said.
But the company, which lives by the sale of computer security software, says phishing attacks are less profitable than they used to be, and of shorter duration, since affected companies work with Internet service providers to shut down sites capturing the information.
Pharming, also known as DNS spoofing because it fools the domain-name system, is an alternative technique that tries to direct users to a fake Web site even when the correct address is entered into a browser.
VeriSign's report lists ways to lock down DNS infrastructure to shut down pharming.
It encourages administrators to upgrade their DNS software and to install cryptography solutions.
Hallam-Baker feels that pharming attacks that depend on cached information could be eliminated fairly easily.
An informal survey conducted by VeriSign in early May found that 85% respondents compromised their passwords by providing their actual password, or hint about their password, for a $3 Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people) gift card.
VeriSign's report notes that, despite continuing security problems, Internet usage continued to grow at a rapid pace during the first quarter.
To Hallam-Baker, the need for security goes hand in hand with the growth of e-commerce: Consumer satisfaction depends on trusting the vendor and the security of the transaction.
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