Paypal – Web Hosting Services Need To Work Hard To Tackle Phishing

Paypal, the online payment service, has been criticizing the web-hosting providers in Europe for not doing proper job to combat phishing. Web-hosting services should enhance their efforts towards pulling down phishing web sites. Some hosting services that are most popular are the slowest as well. If such sites are pulled down at a quicker pace, fewer people will be tricked as a consequence, as per Joseph E. Sullivan - associate general counsel with Paypal. Sullivan said this, on 27 March 2007, while addressing the e-crime congress 2007.

Sullivan went on to say that the online payment service (paypal.com) was pushing for the legislation of Europe similar to US' "good Samaritan" laws. According to which web hosts could take action against the phishers without even making them liable. He further said that at the end of the day web-hosting providers were responsible to fight against phishing attacks. However, he hesitated discerning any provider, since he preferred to work with and not against them.

After the event, while speaking with ZDNet UK he said that the question was about the role web-hosting services needed to perform. The online payment service was averse to name & shame the miscreants since it preferred to secretly work with them.

According to Sullivan they had considered to put together a "hall of shame", however dropped this idea as they found it to be counterproductive. Upon discovering a phishing site on a web-hosting service, Paypal contacted them without anyone knowing it.

Paypal advised web hosts to be more efficient in pulling the phishing sites down. Though it's not so easy, since phishers often put sites up on Friday nights when the technical staff members of the web-hosts have already left for their homes for weekend. Sullivan added that Paypal wanted the domain registration services to do a better job in record keeping.

Technology alone could not solve the widespread problem known as "phishing". Users' awareness & communications were however the key to it. European director for security practice with Symantec, William Beer, said this in a statement that William Beer published on 29 March 2007.

Related article: People Need To Get Wiser about Identity Theft

» SPAMfighter News - 4/4/2007