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At a technology debate hosted by EuroISPA, the European Internet Services Providers Association, and co-sponsored by Interpol in Brussels today, Neil Holloway, president of Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), unveiled a global law enforcement campaign that will target cybercriminals behind phishing attacks. Microsoft Corp. announced that by the end of June 2006 it will have initiated legal actions on more than 100 cases in EMEA against individuals suspected of committing online fraud; 53 of these will have already started by the end of March 2006.
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The legal actions are linked to a larger Microsoft® program, the Global Phishing Enforcement Initiative (GPEI), launched by the company to coordinate and expand its many anti-phishing efforts worldwide to fight phishers through consumer protection, partnerships and prosecution. “Microsoft’s global phishing enforcement initiative works in partnership with law enforcement, multiple industries and governments to educate consumers, prosecute criminals and develop technology solutions to address the threat of phishing,” Holloway said.
The recent massive increase in phishing is apparently due to the widespread availability of easy-to-use “phishing kits”.
Nov. 17, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that three new data providers, Cyota Inc., Internet Identity and MarkMonitor Inc., will be regularly providing Microsoft with information on confirmed phishing Web sites as part of efforts to help enhance the protection offered by Microsoft® Phishing Filter and Microsoft SmartScreen™ Technology. Microsoft Phishing Filter, introduced in July 2005, helps protect customers from phishing scams when they are browsing the Internet and is available via the Phishing Filter Add-in for the MSN Search Toolbar, which launched in final release today, and the upcoming release of Windows® Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Vista™ and Windows XP Service Pack 2, both currently in beta 1 testing. The phishing information provided by the phishing data providers will also be used to help Microsoft SmartScreen Technology detect phishing scams in e-mail sent to MSN® Hotmail® and Windows Live™ Mail beta customers. This cooperation underscores Microsoft’s goal of continuing to work with a number of organizations to employ an effective mix of data sources and other resources to help protect customers.
Nate Mook at BetaNews:
Microsoft on Tuesday quietly slipped out Service Pack 2 for Office 2003, which includes a number of security and performance improvements for the productivity suite. Among the new additions is a Phishing Protection feature for Outlook that filters out e-mails trying to steal personal information.
Get it here plus a variety of others including Project Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Windows SharePoint Services Service Pack 2, Visio 2003 Service Pack 2, and Project 2003 Service Pack 2 among others.
UPDATE: Bink.nu has some screenshots of the Outlook Phishing Protection feature.
MSN today unveiled two new MSN® Search Toolbar Add-ins, enabling people to customize their toolbar to their specific interests and providing a smarter searching and browsing experience. These latest add-ins for MSN Search Toolbar include a beta of the Microsoft® Phishing Filter Add-in, which helps protect customers from potential risks of phishing Web sites and online identity theft, and the Games Add-in, providing one-click access to some of the Web’s most popular online games via MSN Games.
The additional MSN Search Toolbar Add-ins are part of MSN’s long-term commitment to deliver services that enable people to improve their searching and browsing experience. Add-ins are available to download for free at http://addins.msn.com, and consumers can obtain the free MSN Search Toolbar at http://toolbar.msn.com. The latest add-ins are currently available in the U.S. only.
Also in MSN Toolbar news (via Bink.nu) – MSN Toolbar Roaming Favorites First Look:
Released to beta testers earlier today, the MSN Toolbar Roaming Favorites Add-In Beta 1 is Microsoft’s first attempt at allowing users to access their internet bookmarks (a.k.a. Favorites) remotely without having to be signed up to the MSN Internet service. Because the MSN Toolbar is free, anyone will be able to install this addition once it’s released.
