American government tests staff security awareness

12:45 3rd February 2009

The US department of justice (DoJ) has confirmed that it set up a phony 'phishing' scam in a bid to test the security awareness of it staff, reports the Associated Press.

Employees were sent emails asking them to input personal details in order to access data on a savings plan. However, the messages were soon identified as a probable phishing scam and employees began sending warnings to each other.

The DoJ has since confirmed that it sent the emails as a test of the general level of security awareness.

Gina Talamona, a spokeswoman for the DoJ, told the news agency: "Scenarios are intended to represent an example of persistent cyber threats facing today's internet users."

Phishing is as big a problem in the UK and has become more prevalent as online fraudsters have responded to the economic downturn with more elaborate scams. Britons could seek computer courses or IT training to learn how to recognise phishing traps.

A dummy site was recently set up by cyber criminals in an attempt to steal personal information from Britons filing their self-assessment tax returns on the HM Revenue & Customs website.