Gone phishing

E-commerce and online personal banking has made life easier for the average user, but it has also made life easier for thieves. Phishing is the act of convincing users to provide personal identification information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and bank account information for explicit illegal use. Phishing techniques and schemes are analyzed in terms of their effectiveness on the average user as well as their social and economical impacts. Recent countermeasures on both the corporate and U.S. federal government fronts are also discussed in this article