A framework of anti-phishing measures aimed at protecting the online consumer's identity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to aim to educate the internet consumer, who may be a potential phishing victim, and to suggest a framework of anti‐phishing measures, following the staggering increase in the number of recent phishing attacks. Phishing describes a method of online identity theft, in which phishers typically pose as legitimate organisations when sending deceptive e‐mail messages to internet users. When they respond to such e‐mails, victims are lured to malicious web sites, where they are duped into disclosing their personal details. In this way, phishers are able to commit identity theft, with possibly devastating consequences for the victim.Design/methodology/approach – After a literature review of the available sources, the phishing threat is investigated by analysing the modus operandi of phishers and the basic components of a typical phishing scheme. A possible solution for the phishing problem is examined.Findings – Phishers continually target the weakest link in the security ch...