San Diego, CA (PRWEB) February 9, 2005 -- Anonymizer, Inc. today announced that its core online identity protection product, Anonymizer 2005, now protects against the most vicious and difficult-to-detect form of phishing attacks, known as host file phishing.The new release of Anonymizer 2005 provides enhanced protection against identity theft and fraud, which affects 10 million Americans each year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Last year, 57 million Americans received phishing e-mails, and the scams cost banks and credit-card companies $10.2 billion, according to Gartner Inc.Phishing attacks are instigated by criminals who send out millions of spoofed e-mails with links to fraudulent Web sites that imitate the look and feel of legitimate business sites. These phishing attacks lure recipients into divulging personal information such as credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security numbers and more. According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, phishers are able to convince up to 5% of recipients to respond to their hijacking of well-known banks, online retailers and credit card companies. Initial phishing attacks relied on recipients clicking on a link in a fraudulent e-mail that directs them to a spoofed Web site. However, the newest form of phishing attacks doesnt require this step at all. How Host File Phishing WorksHost file phishing programs infest computers through a variety of different ways, including Trojan horses, viruses and spyware. They can also attack PCs when a host file phishing e-mail is simply opened, or even viewed in a preview pane in programs like Microsoft Outlook. No clicking necessary.Once this new form of phishing is embedded in a computer, a hidden script runs in the background. The script locates the host file on the computers operating system and creates an IP address for the criminals fraudulent site. The next time users type their bank URL into their Web browser, it bypasses the DNS and looks up the new IP address that was saved to the host file. The user never knows that they were redirected to the fraudulent site because the URL appeared valid. Phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated with each passing day, says Lee Itzhaki, director of product management at Anonymizer. At first they were relatively easy to spot with typos, grammatical errors and skewed URLs. However, phishers have become far more technologically advanced and this newest form of phishing keeps the original URL intact, so theres nothing suspicious about it.Powerful Weapon to Protect ConsumersAnonymizer 2005 creates an encrypted path between your computer and the Internet to shield users from even the most sophisticated methods of online spying and snooping. It`s easy to setup and use, and works silently in the background, without slowing down the users Internet connection.In addition, Anonymizer 2005 now protects against host file phishing attacks by intercepting all browser requests before returning the page to the end user. Because the users host file is never accessed, people using Anonymizer 2005 are protected from this vicious attack. As technology continually evolves, the online threats that face consumers grow exponentially, said Lance Cottrell, founder of Anonymizer, Inc. Anonymizer continually strives to develop online identity protection solutions to safeguard the privacy of our customers. Were pleased to offer this additional protection against such a serious threat.Visit www.anonymizer.com/phishing for more information on host file phishing attacks and to learn how Anonymizer 2005 protects users against this malicious threat.About Anonymizer, Inc. Anonymizer is the leading provider of Internet privacy and security solutions for consumers, corporations, organizations and government agencies. The company provides safe and secure Web experiences to over two million global Internet users. Its Web site is home to the worlds most popular Internet privacy service, Anonymizer 2005, which defends users from the most prevalent Internet privacy and security threats, from online tracking to malicious code, identity theft and e-mail spammers. Anonymizer identity protection solutions have been used to protect over four billion Web pages since the companys inception in 1995. Anonymizer is privately held and headquartered in San Diego, California. (www.anonymizer.com/phishing)Media Contacts:Lee MillsAnonymizer Inc.1-858-866-1314
Americans Loosen Their Political Muscles thru Powervoter.org - The new website called the Powervoter.org is a free public service provider for Americans online anytime and anywhere wherein they could be a part of a project plus they could benefit from the transpa .. (393 Views)
