17 companies form group to fight phishing, spoofing

More than a dozen corporate giants in the retail, telecommunications, financial services, banking and technology industries are joining forces to combat phishing, spoofing and other methods of online identify fraud.

On Wednesday, the companies -- among them AT&T Wireless Services, IBM, Best Buy and Fidelity Investments -- will announce the formation of the Trusted Electronic Communications Forum (TECF), a group that will focus on eliminating phishing's threat to e-mail and e-commerce. The forum has a complete listing of the companies taking part in the effort on its Web site, but few additional details were available Tuesday afternoon.

A statement on the TECF's Web site said the companies are concerned about virtual threats that "have impeded the progress of Internet communications and have damaged the trust between enterprises and its customers.

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More than a dozen corporate giants in the retail, telecommunications, financial services, banking and technology industries are joining forces to combat phishing, spoofing and other methods of online identify fraud.

On Wednesday, the companies -- among them AT&T Wireless Services, IBM, Best Buy and Fidelity Investments -- will announce the formation of the Trusted Electronic Communications Forum (TECF), a group that will focus on eliminating phishing's threat to e-mail and e-commerce. The forum has a complete listing of the companies taking part in the effort on its Web site, but few additional details were available Tuesday afternoon.

A statement on the TECF's Web site said the companies are concerned about virtual threats that "have impeded the progress of Internet communications and have damaged the trust between enterprises and its customers.

"These threats include spoofing, phishing and identity fraud," the TECF said, describing itself as "a cross-industry, cross-geographic consortium dedicated to the standardization of technologies, techniques and best practices in the fight against phishing, spoofing and identity theft."

The group said it also plans to focus on standardizing technologies, techniques and best practices to fight cybercrime.

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