By Graham Davis

It’s called “phishing”, it’s a new addition to our vocabulary and it has government, the finance industry and their customers worried.

“Phishing” is where online criminals use apparently legitimate emails to trick people into divulging passwords, credit card numbers and bank account details.

Now the Australian Government is teaming up with Australia’s finance industry to crack down on the cyber-criminals who are using bogus e-mails to defraud online banking and finance customers.

The Minister for Information Technology, Daryl Williams, and the Justice Minister, Senator Chris Ellison, have announced that specialist staff from Australia’s major banks will be seconded to the Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) to investigate cases of phishing.

The Ministers said the increasing use of Internet banking by business and consumers was providing a potential new avenue for fraud.

The joint initiative between the AHTCC and the banking and finance sector is an important step in combating cyber-fraud and ensuring that the growing number of Australians who use Internet banking can continue to do so with confidence.

The Office of the Information Economy in the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has already prepared a background document on phishing for consumers.

In addition, a National Response Plan to fight cyber crime will provide a mechanism for financial institutions to report phishing incidents to the AHTCC and the Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT) for analysis and investigation.

The AHTCC is also working with the Australian Communications Authority to attack the problem of spam - a common vehicle for delivering phishing e-mails.

The AHTCC was established in 2003 to co-ordinate a national approach to fighting serious, complex and multi-jurisdictional hightech crimes.

.