[ISN] China takes new measures to curb online phishing

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:57:40 -0600 (CST)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2011-12/30/c_131335469.htm

English.news.cn
2011-12-30

BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's ten major search engines have 
agreed to put banks' official homepages at the top of search results for 
related queries in a move to curb cyber scams, according to a statement 
from the Ministry of Public Security on Friday.

The move was jointly pushed by the ministry, banking industry 
organizations and several commercial banks in response to growing public 
concerns over the safety of online accounts and transactions since 2010, 
the statement said.

Phishing attacks, or financial fraud schemes, are generally done through 
fraudulent websites that appear legitimate by using web addresses or 
log-in webpage designs similar to banks' official Internet banking 
service portals.

Phishing victims are often fooled by fraudulent links turned out by 
search engines.

Upon entering such sites, customers are asked to verify their account 
information by entering usernames and passwords.

The first batch of financial institutions covered by this new precaution 
scheme includes five major state-owned banks and two financial 
organizations, the statement said.

Moreover, some search portals have added an official logo to each bank's 
legitimate link to make it "remarkably different" from unauthorized 
results.

A series of prominent hacking cases this week stirred strong public 
concern.

Millions of personal details of subscribers to several websites, 
including CSDN, the country's largest programmers' website, and popular 
online gaming and social networking sites, were leaked.

A police report on Thursday confirmed that applicants' information 
leaked from a government database in the southern province of Guangdong 
due to technical loopholes.


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Received on Fri Dec 30 2011 - 01:57:40 PST

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