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With Microsoft's ambitions to win on web services it is already in the midst of moving a good chunk of its flagship software online in the form of its Live! Office-based services. And the high levels of browser-hijacking and surfers being sent to malicious websites that inject code via phishing attacks could seriously jeopardise momentum.

The company already offers phishing screening through a plug-in to Internet Explorer and a server-centric solution in the form of SmartScreen.

The three partners announced today - Cyota Inc., Internet Identity

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and MarkMonitor - will provide a constant feed of known phishing websites to Microsoft with which it can keep its customers protected by the hour. These partners already protect many banks, corporates and other financial institutions from the phishing threat. Microsoft says that phishing sites are often online for just days or even hours during a campaign, before they are pulled, so the need to be timely is high.

This data feed will be combined with Microsoft's own data, gleaned both from its own work and feedback from its users.

Microsoft's antiphishing technology can assess each webpage for phishing threats, judging it both by the behaviour it exhibits, as well as comparing it to a list of known phishing sites.

'There is of course no silver bullet that can stop phishing, but we believe that the Microsoft Phishing Filter and SmartScreen Technology, when armed with continuously updated data from both great partners and our own users, can help make a significant difference for our customers worldwide,' said John L. Scarrow, general manager, Anti-Spam and Anti-Phishing Team, Microsoft Technology Care and Safety Group.