August 16, 2004 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — The Anti-Phishing Work Group (antiphishing.org) reported that the average phishing Web site is online for 54 hours, while some have been able to stay online for more than two weeks before being abandoned or shut down, according to research and analysis firm Netcraft (netcraft.com).
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Phishing attacks involve the mass distribution of “spoofed” or forged email messages with return addresses, links, and branding that appear to come from legitimate financial institutions but are designed to lead recipients towards fraudulent Web sites that attempt to trick them into divulging personal data such as account usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and social security numbers.
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According to Netcraft, speed is critical to the success of phishing scams, which typically migrate from server to server in order to escape detection by hosting providers and law enforcement.
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The Anti-Phsihing Working Group reported that there were 1,422 separate phishing scams in June, an increase of 52 percent over May. MessageLabs recently said that the impact of phishing attacks has outgrown that of viruses.
