RSA finds phishing cost $687m in six months

Although phishing is a con trick as old as the web, attackers are maintaining astonishing success by pulling the strings of victims’ emotions.

Fraudsters who can persuade victims to respond to a legitimate-looking email or click on a seemingly benevolent link have already won without even having to launch a sophisticated attack on users. This week, security firm RSA released phishing attack numbers for the first half of the year that show a 19 percent increase in global incidents over the last half of 2011.