Fergie's Tech Blog

IODEF: e-Crime Reporting Format Draws Closer to a Standard

Jeremy Kirk writes on PC World:

The Internet Engineering Task Force is close to approving a specification for a common format for reporting e-crime, a step taken to allow security experts to react faster to cybercrime.

The Anti-Phishing Working Group is already collecting reports from organizations using the XML-based Instant Object Description Exchange Format (IODEF), which has been customized with extensions appropriate for e-crime reports, said Peter Cassidy, secretary general of APWG.

The format will allow for unambiguous time stamps, support for different languages and a feature to attach samples of malicious code.

The specification is now with the IETF, which has been looking at it for more than a year. If it is approved as a standard, the format will likely be taken up by banks, security organizations and other entities, Cassidy said. The format can be used to report crimes such as phishing and fraud incidents.

posted by Fergie @ 3/23/2010 01:50:00 PM