Phishing Attacks Cost Record $3.2 Billion: Gartner

Phishing attacks in the U.S. soared in 2007, as $3.2 billion was lost to these attacks, according to a survey by Gartner Inc.

Phishing occurs when fraudulent marketers pose as legitimate entities such as banks and convince consumers to reveal private information such as credit and social security card numbers.

The survey found that 3.6 million adults lost money in phishing attacks in the 12 months ending in August, as compared with the 2.3 million who did so the year before.

According to a survey of more than 4,500 online U.S. adults in August, the attacks were more successful than in the previous two years. Of consumers who received phishing e-mails in 2007, 3.3% say they lost money because of the attack, compared with 2.3% who lost money in 2006, and 2.9% who did so in 2005, according to similar Gartner surveys during those years.

Phishing attacks are becoming more surreptitious and are often designed to drop malware that steals user credentials and sensitive information from consumer desktops,” said Avivah Litan, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, in a statement.

Litan continued: “Anti-phishing detection and prevention solutions are available but not utilized widely enough to stop the damage. These must be deployed and combined with solutions that also proactively detect and stop malware-based attacks.”