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| Phishers steal money and confidential data from
internet users. |
Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have warned
users about the international threat posed by organized identity
theft criminals as AOL announces it is filing lawsuits against
three alleged phishing gangs.
AOL is seeking combined damages of $18 million in three civil
suits it has filed in Virginia, charging phishing gangs with
stealing personal information via bogus websites. The gangs are
believed to reside in the United States, Germany and Romania and
are said to have created hundreds of fake websites posing as real
online companies.
"Phishing is an international problem, with gangs around the
world working to steal the identities of millions of innocent
people," said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "It's good to
see ISPs like AOL fighting back against the phishers, but we also
need all computer users to take greater care about which websites
they visit, and to who they give confidential information."
Earlier this month, Sophos revealed in a
survey that 58% of people receive a phishing email each
day.
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can defend businesses
from the threats of both spam and viruses; and that users do not
open or reply to unsolicited emails.
Organizations concerned about being fraudulently represented in
phishing campaigns can sign up to the Sophos early warning system,
Sophos PhishAlert.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.