OpenDNS Blocks One Quarter of a Million Phishing Attacks
OpenDNS’s PhishTank verifies 250k potentially devastating phishing scams; OpenDNS blocks all for users worldwide
Jan 17, 2008 — SAN FRANCISCO – OpenDNS, the award-winning DNS service that makes the Internet safer, faster, smarter and more reliable, today announced it has blocked one quarter of a million phishing attacks and prevented the resulting domino effect of identify theft for its 3 million users. Phishing is a fraudulent attempt, usually made through email, to steal your personal information. OpenDNS is the world’s largest, fastest-growing DNS service.
The data about phishing sites OpenDNS uses to protect its customers comes from PhishTank.com, the Internet’s most authoritative source of phishing data. PhishTank is operated by OpenDNS and an active community of anti-phishing volunteers. Every Internet user is encouraged to submit e-mails appearing to be fraudulent to PhishTank.com, where the community will then vote on their authenticity. PhishTank.com makes all of its data public so any service can use it to protect their users. OpenDNS blocks all PhishTank.com-verified phishing sites for its users.
“Every single phishing scam has the potential to financially devastate the recipient, whether it is a large enterprise or an individual,” said OpenDNS CEO David Ulevitch. “With phishing and the resulting identity theft being a global problem, OpenDNS is proud to be such a big part of the global solution.”
About OpenDNS
OpenDNS makes the Internet safer, faster, smarter and more reliable. Based in San Francisco, the company operates a large distributed network that powers a new kind of recursive DNS (Domain Name System) service that provides all Internet users increased security, reliability and performance. OpenDNS is thoroughly committed to building and operating the best DNS platform in the world and to improving the Internet. For more information about OpenDNS, please visit: http://www.opendns.com
About PhishTank
Launched in October 2006 to coincide with National Cyber Security Awareness Month, PhishTank is the world’s only collaborative clearinghouse for phishing data. PhishTank employs a sophisticated voting system that requires the community to vote "phish" or "not phish," reducing the possibility of false positives and improving the data’s overall breadth and coverage. PhishTank makes all phishing data it accumulates public and available via programmable APIs, which allow other software developers to incorporate anti-phishing elements into their tools. The open access is intended to encourage the sharing of information and increase the chance of eliminating phishing all together. For more information about PhishTank, please visit: http://www.phishtank.com
The data about phishing sites OpenDNS uses to protect its customers comes from PhishTank.com, the Internet’s most authoritative source of phishing data. PhishTank is operated by OpenDNS and an active community of anti-phishing volunteers. Every Internet user is encouraged to submit e-mails appearing to be fraudulent to PhishTank.com, where the community will then vote on their authenticity. PhishTank.com makes all of its data public so any service can use it to protect their users. OpenDNS blocks all PhishTank.com-verified phishing sites for its users.
“Every single phishing scam has the potential to financially devastate the recipient, whether it is a large enterprise or an individual,” said OpenDNS CEO David Ulevitch. “With phishing and the resulting identity theft being a global problem, OpenDNS is proud to be such a big part of the global solution.”
About OpenDNS
OpenDNS makes the Internet safer, faster, smarter and more reliable. Based in San Francisco, the company operates a large distributed network that powers a new kind of recursive DNS (Domain Name System) service that provides all Internet users increased security, reliability and performance. OpenDNS is thoroughly committed to building and operating the best DNS platform in the world and to improving the Internet. For more information about OpenDNS, please visit: http://www.opendns.com
About PhishTank
Launched in October 2006 to coincide with National Cyber Security Awareness Month, PhishTank is the world’s only collaborative clearinghouse for phishing data. PhishTank employs a sophisticated voting system that requires the community to vote "phish" or "not phish," reducing the possibility of false positives and improving the data’s overall breadth and coverage. PhishTank makes all phishing data it accumulates public and available via programmable APIs, which allow other software developers to incorporate anti-phishing elements into their tools. The open access is intended to encourage the sharing of information and increase the chance of eliminating phishing all together. For more information about PhishTank, please visit: http://www.phishtank.com
