The Federal Trade Commission today released a staff report on a Roundtable Discussion on Phishing Education that it hosted in April. Approximately 60 experts from business, government, the technology sector, the consumer advocacy community, and academia met at the FTC to discuss strategies for outreach to consumers about avoiding phishing.

“Participants indicated that the best anti-phishing messages are behavioral rather than technical,” the report states. Evaluating whom to trust on the Internet can help prevent users from becoming victims.

The FTC’s report summarizes key themes that emerged from the Roundtable Discussion and outlines next steps for increasing anti-phishing education. The report also includes a description of workshop participants’ efforts to fight phishing attacks and educate consumers, as well as ideas for increasing effective consumer education.

The roundtable discussion was hosted by the Divisions of Consumer and Business Education and Marketing Practices of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. To read the report go to http://www.ftc.gov/reports/index.shtm. Also during the workshop, the FTC showed three 60-second videos it developed to raise awareness about the threats of phishing. These videos can be found at http://www.youtube.com/ftcvideos and at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/vids.shtm.