AOL boosts anti-phishing protection

NEW YORK (Reuters) - America Online, the online division of Time Warner Inc, on Wednesday said it plans to step up protections against the illegal gathering of subscribers' sensitive data through fraudulent websites.

AOL said it has struck partnerships with MarkMonitor Inc and Cyveillance and expanded an agreement with Cyota Inc to help prevent what's popularly known as "phishing".

The companies will help AOL spot and block sites that mimic legitimate companies. AOL also plans to monitor for new phishing sites across the web as well as track down suspicious links contributed by its subscribers.

"The only difference between a phisher and a mugger is that a phisher uses a keyboard and not a gun," Tatiana Platt, AOL Chief Trust Officer, said in a statement.

The move follows improvements AOL made in late September to block out programs that track user behaviour, known as "spyware".

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