Phishing is the criminal act of posing as a legitimate business via digital communications to extract information such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, and banking account numbers.

Businesses absorb more than 90 percent of the costs of phishing attacks as consumers lose faith in Internet-based communication. Companies can also play a significant role in rebuilding the public's trust in online communication channels.

To help in this critical endeavor, TRUSTe and Ernst & Young have collaborated to produce a whitepaper titled “How Not to Look Like a Phish.” The whitepaper provides guidelines and examples to help businesses maintain safer, more reassuring digital communications with customers to minimize the risks associated with phishing attacks. It describes such best practices as eliminating pop-ups, avoiding the use of instant messaging and email to collect information from customers, and removing cross-site scripting from the company’s Web site.

TRUSTe and Ernst & Young are currently accepting comments on the whitepaper, and will release a revised version incorporating the comments in the next few months. Send your comments to Krystal Putman at kputman@truste.org.

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Click here to download the TRUSTe/Ernst & Young "How Not to Look Like a Phish" whitepaper.

Click here to read the Press Release.

 

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