Microsoft Touts Success Against Phishers

Microsoft is using its considerable weight as a large company to personally go after online criminals who use phishing techniques to engage in identity theft. And according to a recent report, they are having quite a bit of success too. I’m certain that the pursuit of these cases costs thousands and thousands of dollars with very little in monetary return. For a non-government organization, I would venture to say that these efforts in directly fighting online crime are the largest of any private organization.

From Reuters here:

Microsoft is helping law enforcers hunt down criminals who try to steal bank account details on the Internet and has initiated 129 lawsuits in Europe and the Middle East, the U.S. software company said.

One court case in Turkey has already led to a 2.5-year prison sentence for a so-called “phisher” in Turkey, and another four cases against teenagers have been settled out of court, Microsoft said on Wednesday, eight months after it announced the launch of a Global Phishing Enforcement Initiative in March.

Microsoft can initiate civil lawsuits even when it is not the target of identity theft, because legal systems in many countries allow anyone suffering from attacks to claim damages.

Before legal action was taken, 253 cases were investigated. Most of the investigations and 50 of the criminal complaints were filed in Turkey. Germany was second with 28 criminal complaints and France third with 11. Cases were also filed in Dubai, Italy, Morocco and the Netherlands.

It is somewhat disconcerting to me that many of the countries engaged in online identity theft are Muslim Nations. It may be coincidental, and most often phishers are teens looking to make a quick buck. But one of the ways phishers make money is by selling stolen credentials to criminals who know how to exploit those credentials. It is horrible to think that Islamic jihadists may be trying to finance operations against Americans by stealing American’s money online.