Phishy e-mails and Web sites: What's your responsibility?

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August 24, 2004 (Computerworld) -- Welcome to Computerworld.com's new monthly column on IT ethics by Larry Ponemon.
The Ponemon Institute in Tucson, Ariz., conducts independent research and education designed to advance ethical information and privacy management practices in government and business. To learn more about your interests and perceptions about these issues, we plan to ask a few questions at the end of each monthly column. We hope you will take a few minutes to respond (editor's note: The survey is now closed). If you have any questions, please e-mail us at research@ponemon.org.

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Tom was an avid collector of antique train sets. One morning while scanning his e-mail, he noticed one from an online auction site from which he purchased a good part of his collection.
The e-mail had the familiar logos and graphics Tom was accustomed to seeing with a tempting message that he could purchase a 1938 Lionel caboose for less than $50. The message was irresistible. Tom provided his credit card number and shipping address. The site also asked for his Social Security number. Not thinking twice, Tom entered the nine digits. The next day, on his way to the grocery store, Tom stopped at his bank's ATM. To his horror, his balance was zero. He also found that his savings account was wiped out. A "phisherman" had hooked another victim.
The typical phishing experience starts with the receipt of a fake e-mail. The e-mail sender and subject line claims to be from a legitimate, trusted source such as an online auctioneer, bank, mortgage broker, credit card company or Web retailer.
A common message is a "customer service request" asking subjects to click onto a Web site, supposedly to resolve a glitch or problem within their account, perhaps to reset a password or personal identification number. As in the case above, it can also be an offer to purchase a product or service.
Because the fake e-mail often starts with a blast to millions of randomly selected e-mail addresses, most people don't respond because they don't have an existing business relationship. The goal for the criminal is to cast the net as wide as possible, luring in a few susceptible people who believe this is a legitimate request for information.
While the mere act of reading the e-mail advertisement or Web site can unleash a persistent cookie or Web beacon onto the user's computer system, the more serious security problem arises when the individual visits the spoofed Web site. The best spoofers do an excellent job of re-creating the real corporate Web site, making it almost impossible to detect the imposter. Once someone is on the site, more insidious technologies, such as

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