Redwood City, Calif. – March 25, 2009 – Nominum, the leading provider of network naming and addressing technologies, announced today that it has joined the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), an organization dedicated to eliminating identity theft and fraud related to e-mail scams known as Phishing.
The web has become the primary vehicle for spreading malware, with heavy emphasis on increasingly sophisticated social-engineering techniques that entice Internet users to click on malicious web links, or phishing links, which subsequently route them to a web site controlled by an attacker.
Nominum has developed a unique solution for fighting phishing that leverages proven DNS technology to provide real-time protection in the event a subscriber clicks on a phishing link. Rather than allowing Internet users to visit malicious sites and get enticed into giving up confidential information or have their computers become infected with malware, the solution redirects users to a “teaching page” that explains the danger of phishing. These “teachable moments” have been verified as an effective means of educating users about phishing by research into user behavior conducted at Carnegie Mellon University[1].
This approach has other advantages. Since it prevents users from visiting malicious sites, their machines are never infected with domain-based lists. This approach also makes it possible to provide protection even as IP addresses of malicious servers change, as with “fast flux” sites. Best of all, this solution does not require Internet subscribers to do anything; they do not have to worry about installing or maintaining any software.
Redirecting users away from malware greatly reduces the burden on anti-virus software and removes any advantage attackers might gain by changing their malware constantly to avoid being detected by anti-virus signatures. As new malicious sites are discovered, threat lists can be updated instantly and automatically across the network, protecting hundreds of millions of users.
“Nominum is a valuable addition to the APWG, given the roots of the company‚s principals in the development of DNS technologies.” said Peter Cassidy of the Anti-Phishing Working Group. “The company will be contributing fruitfully to the discussion among APWG researchers who are investigating the manifold ways the DNS is being abused by organized electronic crime gangs today.”
“As part of the Anti-Phishing Working Group, Nominum will be working with other leading companies to combat this widespread threat,” said Paul Mockapetris, founder and CTO of Nominum. “The phishing problem needs to be solved so that the Internet can continue to thrive. Sharing information and solutions will empower service providers and content providers as well as businesses and consumers to protect their confidential information and resources and eliminate this scourge.”
ABOUT NOMINUM
Nominum’s network naming and addressing solutions are the foundation of the always-on broadband Internet, supporting more than150 million households connected by more than one hundred service providers in every region of the world – North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Nominum’s Domain Name System (DNS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) products lead the industry in security, performance, and reliability. Nominum innovations allow providers and enterprises to leverage DNS to deliver a Trusted Internet Experience, creating an environment where individuals can browse, interact, and transact online without fear of identity theft or exposure to illegal or malicious content. This environment preserves the freedom to explore, create, and share content, while maintaining privacy. It also removes the immense burden on Internet users to provide and maintain the technology needed to protect themselves from an increasingly complex and continually changing range of online threats. For more information, please visit www.nominum.com.
ABOUT ANTI-PHISHING WORKING GROUP
The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) is the global pan-industrial and law enforcement association focused on eliminating the fraud and identity theft that result from phishing, pharming and email spoofing of all types. For more information, please visit http://www.antiphishing.org/index.html.
[1] “How to Foil Phishing Scams”, Scientific American, December 2008, Lorrie Faith Cranor, Carnegie-Mellon University
Nominum Joins Anti-Phishing Working Group
Redwood City, Calif. – March 25, 2009 – Nominum, the leading provider of network naming and addressing technologies, announced today that it has joined the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), an organization dedicated to eliminating identity theft and fraud related to e-mail scams known as Phishing.
The web has become the primary vehicle for spreading malware, with heavy emphasis on increasingly sophisticated social-engineering techniques that entice Internet users to click on malicious web links, or phishing links, which subsequently route them to a web site controlled by an attacker.
Nominum has developed a unique solution for fighting phishing that leverages proven DNS technology to provide real-time protection in the event a subscriber clicks on a phishing link. Rather than allowing Internet users to visit malicious sites and get enticed into giving up confidential information or have their computers become infected with malware, the solution redirects users to a “teaching page” that explains the danger of phishing. These “teachable moments” have been verified as an effective means of educating users about phishing by research into user behavior conducted at Carnegie Mellon University[1].
This approach has other advantages. Since it prevents users from visiting malicious sites, their machines are never infected with domain-based lists. This approach also makes it possible to provide protection even as IP addresses of malicious servers change, as with “fast flux” sites. Best of all, this solution does not require Internet subscribers to do anything; they do not have to worry about installing or maintaining any software.
Redirecting users away from malware greatly reduces the burden on anti-virus software and removes any advantage attackers might gain by changing their malware constantly to avoid being detected by anti-virus signatures. As new malicious sites are discovered, threat lists can be updated instantly and automatically across the network, protecting hundreds of millions of users.
“Nominum is a valuable addition to the APWG, given the roots of the company‚s principals in the development of DNS technologies.” said Peter Cassidy of the Anti-Phishing Working Group. “The company will be contributing fruitfully to the discussion among APWG researchers who are investigating the manifold ways the DNS is being abused by organized electronic crime gangs today.”
“As part of the Anti-Phishing Working Group, Nominum will be working with other leading companies to combat this widespread threat,” said Paul Mockapetris, founder and CTO of Nominum. “The phishing problem needs to be solved so that the Internet can continue to thrive. Sharing information and solutions will empower service providers and content providers as well as businesses and consumers to protect their confidential information and resources and eliminate this scourge.”
ABOUT NOMINUM
Nominum’s network naming and addressing solutions are the foundation of the always-on broadband Internet, supporting more than150 million households connected by more than one hundred service providers in every region of the world – North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Nominum’s Domain Name System (DNS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) products lead the industry in security, performance, and reliability. Nominum innovations allow providers and enterprises to leverage DNS to deliver a Trusted Internet Experience, creating an environment where individuals can browse, interact, and transact online without fear of identity theft or exposure to illegal or malicious content. This environment preserves the freedom to explore, create, and share content, while maintaining privacy. It also removes the immense burden on Internet users to provide and maintain the technology needed to protect themselves from an increasingly complex and continually changing range of online threats. For more information, please visit www.nominum.com.
ABOUT ANTI-PHISHING WORKING GROUP
The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) is the global pan-industrial and law enforcement association focused on eliminating the fraud and identity theft that result from phishing, pharming and email spoofing of all types. For more information, please visit http://www.antiphishing.org/index.html.