LOS ALTOS, Calif. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 11,
2006--The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) reported today that the
number of brands hijacked by phishers leapt to a record high of 154,
up 20 percent from the previous month and more than 12 percent from
the previous high.

APWG Chairman Dave Jevans said upon release of the report, "Criminals
are spoofing the brands of smaller financial institutions, ISPs and
even government agencies in an attempt to steal consumers' identity
information and account passwords. Combined with ever increasing
technical sophistication, the fact is that nobody is immune from
possible attack."

The APWG's July report showed a drop in the number of reported
phishing campaigns from 28,571 to 23,670, a substantial decreased but
still far above the mean of the previous 12 months. At the same time,
however, the number of new phishing sites reported rose to a record
14,191, more than 18 percent higher than the previous high.

Dan Hubbard, vice president of security research for Websense, Inc.
said, "In a year, the number of brands has more than doubled,
illustrating that online criminals are simply not settling for the
large, popular organizations and financial institutions. The increase
in the complexity of attacks goes hand in hand with the massive growth
in phishing websites and the targeted, broad selection of brands that
has followed."

The full report is available at:
http://www.antiphishing.org/reports/apwg_report_july_2006.pdf

About the Anti-Phishing Working Group

The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) is an industry association
focused on eliminating the identity theft and fraud that result from
the growing problem of phishing, email spoofing and crimeware.
Membership is open to qualified financial institutions, online
retailers, ISPs, the law enforcement community and solutions
providers. There are more than 1,500 companies and government agencies
participating in the APWG and more than 2,500 members. The APWG's web
site (http://www.antiphishing.org) offers the public and industry
information about phishing and email fraud, including identification
and promotion of pragmatic technical solutions that provide immediate
protection.