• by March 4, 2005

Amid a whirl of search-related news, the Minute has gone phishing for something else, something that aims to remove the swish from the phish. That is, if it's possible.

An anti-phishing bill was introduced yesterday in Congress that if passed, would levy fines and impose jail terms for people who create fraudulent Web sites and send misleading e-mail, like phony e-mail attempts to lure important financial tidbits from unsuspecting consumers.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) introduced the Anti-Phishing Act of 2005. Leahy said phishing represents a "serious threat to the security of the Internet." The legislation he proposes includes penalties for "pharming," which uses browsers and the Internet's address system to direct people to phony sites. Leahy's proposed bill would also allow perpetrators of phishing scams to be prosecuted under existing wire fraud or identity theft statutes after victims were defrauded. The problem is phishers have plenty of time to disappear.

The legislation comes on the heels of a new report by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consumer watchdog group that says the average shelf life of an individual phishing site is only six days. Essentially, this means that people who conduct phishing expeditions are able to collect personal data in less than a week and then disappear, erasing all references to their existence.

Senator Leahy's proposed bill makes it illegal to distribute e-mail that links to phony sites with the goal of committing a crime. If the bill passes and becomes law, phishers and pharmers could see fines of up to $250,000 and jail terms of up to five years. How 'bout them apples?