One Gang Responsible For Most Phishing Attacks

Phishing, that fine criminal art of setting out various traps to steal bank, credit card and personal information, has been a constant problem on the Internet in recent years, and as it turns out, one group of criminals is responsible for most of the attacks.

According to a consortium that hunts down phishing attacks and gang, one group is responsible for two-thirds of all the attacks seen in the second half of 2009. So who is this bunch of crooks? eSecurity Planet takes a look.

A group of sophisticated and proficient hackers known as the “Avalanche” gang was responsible for setting up and operating more than two-thirds of the 126,000-plus fake Web sites designed to steal Internet users’ credit card numbers, bank account information and infect their PCs with malware.

Through the use of sophisticated malware and phishing tactics, the group was singlehandedly responsible for the ominous increase in worldwide phishing attacks in the last six months of 2009, according to a report released by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium of Web retailing, software, security and financial firms.

Read the full story at eSecurity Planet:


Single Phishing Gang Dominated Attacks in 2009