Global dispatches: Microsoft goes after phishers

27.03.2006
Microsoft begins legal attacks on phishing

BRUSSELS -- Microsoft Corp. by midyear plans to initiate more than 100 legal actions against suspected operators of fraudulent Web sites in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The plan is part of a global antiphishing campaign announced by the software vendor last week.

Neil Holloway, president of Microsoft's Europe, Middle East and Africa business unit, detailed the Global Phishing Enforcement Initiative at a roundtable discussion that was hosted here by the European Internet Services Providers Association and supported by Interpol and Microsoft.

Holloway said that Microsoft is planning to work with law enforcement agencies, companies in a variety of industries and governments to educate consumers about phishing, increase prosecutions of alleged cybercriminals and identify new ways to use technology to combat Internet scams.

Microsoft has already taken action against 53 people in Austria, Egypt, France, Morocco, Spain, Turkey and the U.K. for allegedly enticing Internet users to visit phony Web sites and disclose personal data. It's also pursuing phishers in the U.S., Holloway said.

-- China Martens, IDG News Service