Phishing' on the Web

Phishing can be defined as the act of sending an email to an individual, in an attempt to trick the person into surrendering private and confidential information, such as user names and passwords.

Phishing often works because the actual email (and sometimes a fraudulent supporting website) is usually designed and formatted to look, seem and feel as though it is coming from a legitimate enterprise.

There are numerous North American examples of phishing attempts and successes, but Jamaicans need to be on their guard as well as it is only a matter of time before local tricksters try their hand at 'phishing' for online bank account log in details and more.

Notably, in early 2002, there was a phishing attempt to get the user name and passwords of customers of a certain local Internet Service Provider (ISP).

A fraudulent email (disguised to look as though it was from the ISP itself) was sent seemingly to the ISP's entire list of customers, asking that customers "log in to update their account status in order to avoid disconnection."

I know of a few people who got caught by the trick (and there may have been many others), as they typed their user name and password into the form, only to be locked out of their accounts soon after, as the perpetrators got the information that was input and proceeded to change the password, hence locking them out.

For more information about phishing on a global scale, you can visit www.antiphishing.org.

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK

www.trendwatching.com ­ Anyone who wants to get a good sense of emerging consumer trends from a global business perspective should bookmark trendwatching.com.

Utilising a network of approximately 4,000 'trend spotters' in over 50 countries, they produce a monthly newsletter which details emerging consumer trends, as well as new business ideas associated with these trends.

Www.yardsalejamaica.com ­ One of the more recent additions to Jamaica's online landscape, yardsalejamaica.com is an online marketplace where sellers can post items for sale, and buyers can make an offer on items that are for sale. Items are sorted by category, and anyone in Jamaica or elsewhere in the world can log to participate.

Www.courttv.com/trials/jackson/ ­ Just in case you missed the drama and highlights on television, courttv.com has a comprehensive section of its website dedicated to the Michael Jackson trial, with everything from daily court proceedings updates to message boards for those who want to argue in his favour or against him.

AROUND THE WORLD

Do you watch television while working on the computer or surfing the web? A United States survey done by Universal McCann showed that in 2004, the average individual spent 300 minutes per week simultaneously surfing the web and watching TV.

Be warned Jamaican advertisers, as some viewers may be tuning out during the ad breaks, and focusing instead on their computer monitors.