Free US Law Dictionary
BETA
Phishing
In computing, phishing is an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. PayPal, eBay and online banks are common targets. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging,[1] and often directs users to enter details at a website, although phone contact has also been used.[2] Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users.[3] Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical measures.
A phishing technique was described in detail as early as 1987, while the first recorded use of the term "phishing" was made in 1996. The term is a variant of fishing,[4] probably influenced by phreaking,[5][6] and alludes to the use of increasingly sophisticated baits used in the hope of a "catch" of financial information and passwords. The word may also be linked to leetspeak, in which ph is a common substitution for f.[7]
What Is Phishing?
Phishing is a 1 of the fastest-growing cybercrimes and costs consumers billions of dollars each year. Marked "fishing", is named from spammers using deceitful electronic mail messages to "fish" for information in an effort to acquire their receivers to divulging personal information like recognition card numbers, depository financial institution business relationship numbers, societal security numbers, and passwords...
More Phishing
Matthew Bowen follows up on Prevention Works' recent warning and help regarding phishing. This time he brings in the concept of the phishing criminal ecosystem to describe the, well, less than stellar individuals who get involved in this malodorous vandalism...
Why phishing works
Rachna Dhamija, J. D. Tygar and Marti Hearst from the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science have published an academic paper explaining "Why Phishing Works"...
Phishing for Probate
Today I received an email message that reads as follows:
Good Day,
My name is Sarah Brown...
Phishing bei Hochschulmailaccounts
Phishingmails finden sich täglich im Posteingang. Doch heute ist mal eine neue Variante aufgetaucht: Diesmal sollen Inhaber eines Mailaccounts der Universität Hannover Kennungen und Passwörter für Ihren Account per Mail übermitteln...
Economy Down, Phishing Up, Way Up
The Anti-Phishing Working Group reports that phishing-related malware had an absolute boom in the second quarter of 2008...
#1 Online Legal Resource
 |
|
Contact Us | About Us | Celebrity Law Blog |
Our Partners | Disclaimer
| Law Blog Directory
| Law Jobs
| Law Tweets
| GoDaddy Hosting
All original material © 1999-2009 by USLaw.com. |