Microsoft takes active steps against Phishers

The war is on. Microsoft is being active in their efforts against the people who send Phishing mails to unsuspected users. They have filed around 117 lawsuits against Internet website operators it claims are involved in such activities. The motive of these accused webmasters is to obtain personal and financial information from unsuspecting consumers.

These sites pretend to be official pages of banks and credit card companies to fool the customers into updating their account information on their website. In addition, they also cause big nuisance for ISPs and network administrators around the world by sending millions of spam mails.

Microsoft said in a statement that they were filing “John Doe” defendant lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Washington State to get rid of these phishers on the net. Bigger aim is to establish a connection between worldwide phishers and discover the largest-volume operators.

They are being supported widely by the Federal Trade Commission and the National Consumers League. All these organizations started campaigns as well to make the consumer aware of these issues on the Internet, which can become security hazard unless they are made aware of the consequences.

Many web browsers in the recent days have taken strong steps to prevent fake sites to appear like something they are not. Microsoft is also actively involved in the steps to improve the security of their operating systems and web based applications.