A four-month investigation into the inner workings of <A HREF="http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Black-Hat-Lifts-the-Cover-Off-ID-Theft-Phishing-Networks/?kc=EWKNLENT022208STR2">the phishing scourge that drives identity theft attacks</A> has uncovered an underground ecosystem of compromised Web servers, do-it-yourself phishing kits, brazen credit card thieves and lazy code copycats.

At the Black Hat DC Briefings, security researchers Billy Rios and Nitesh Dhanjani shared the findings of their investigation into the phishing epidemic and warned that the whack-a-mole approach to disabling fake banking sites is a huge waste of time.