The TowerGroup predicts the number of phishing attacks should rise to 86,000 by the end of this year. Vendors and financial firms are starting to respond, and as a variety of strategies for combating phishing emerge, more banks are lining up to try them.

So far 25 customers have implemented Corillian's Fraud Detection System, launched last summer. The system analyzes a firm's own Web server logs and aims to proactively detect and investigate suspicious activity by identifying certain patterns that often precede a phishing attack. In particular, the copying of logos, attempts to link from a legitimate banking site to another site, or logging into several systems simultaneously are all warning signs. While investigating phishing the system can also detect fraudulent account enrollment, fraudulent account access and use, potential compliance violations with respect to sanctioned countries and money laundering, site probing and reconnaissance, and site reliability and stability.

Meanwhile, through a partnership with Quova, the technology from Quova's Geopoint geolocation service has been integrated into the Corillian Fraud Detection System, to help identify the geographic location, ISP and organization associated with each Web site visitor.

And in January, five firms banded together to create the Anti-Fraud Alliance and offer a suite of complementary services for fighting online fraud. The participants are Symantec, for online-fraud management solutions; Corillian; NameProtect, a digital brand protection company; PassMark Security, a system for verifying both parties in ecommerce; and Internet Identity, which provides fraud Web site deactivation and domain name control services.

More strategies for detecting and finding fishing and online identity theft will be discussed at a Web seminar held by Corillian and sponsored by Microsoft Financial Services as part of Microsoft's Experience Banking: Solutions in Action series.