Phish to Fry: Responding to the Phishing Problem
Peter Black · QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) · 2005
Phishing, a form of identity theft, starts with an email and can result in the theft of confidential information, identities, bank account details and funds and more. Phishing can be defined as the criminal creation and use of emails and websites which are designed to look like emails and websites of well-known legitimate businesses, financial institutions, and government agencies - in order to deceive Internet users into disclosing their bank and financial account information or other personal data such as usernames and passwords. The phisher uses the information obtained to commit fraud. The article deals with how phishing attacks are responding to increased public awareness about the problem by adopting more sophisticated techniques, considers the various strategies, both legal and technological, that can be utilised to combat phishing, and evaluates the effectiveness of these various strategies and critically examines which is best equipped to combat phishing. The article concludes that the most effective strategies in limiting the effects of phishing are technological innovation and community awareness rather than the creation of new offences.