On June 13, 2005, TRUSTe and the Anti-Phishing Working Group held the first “Phish Fry” Consumer Education Summit. The event brought together stakeholders from industries affected by phishing attacks to discuss the phishing problem in depth and the ongoing challenge of educating the public on ways to better protect themselves from becoming victims of these types of fraudulent schemes.

Phishing is the illegal act of mimicking communications from trusted businesses with the goal of tricking people into divulging personal information. Along with creating and implementing phishing-resistant procedures for communicating with customers, consumer education is a critical defense against phishing attacks.

Sponsored by Charles Schwab, Ernst & Young, Mail Frontier, RSA, and Symantec, the event was attended by more than 70 executives -- mostly from the financial, e-commerce, security, and government sectors -- who recognized the need to create a safe environment for digital communications with customers. Sessions included a review of the current state of phishing and spoofing trends, an overview of current consumer education efforts, and a forum for developing ideas to educate mass audiences on the dangers of phishing.

TRUSTe is proud to be leading the effort to educate consumers against these insidious schemes. Anyone interested in continuing the effort to create a broad-based consumer education campaign should contact TRUSTe at phishfry@truste.org.

 

Ponemon Institute