Saturday, August 13, 2005

Oxford English Dictionary adds "phishing" to it's compendium

Via OUT-LAW.com.

According to the revised second edition of the OED, published on Wednesday:

phishing•noun, the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers, online.

The first recorded use of the word was in 1996, when hackers referred in a newsgroup to the hijacking of AOL accounts. Their motivation was free internet access; today, the motivation for phishing is financial gain.

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