Phishers cast nets less wide
More scams hitting fewer targets, says report.
According to RSA Security's August report on online fraud, the number of brands attacked by phishing scams fell
by 20% last month, despite an overall rise in the level of phishing attempts seen.
The number of targets outside the US rose slightly, but US-based companies are still by far the most frequently hit by
phishers, with 73% of all targets based there. Credit unions and regional banks take the lion's share, with national
banks targeted by less than 20% of phishes.
The US is also the top source of attacks, although the share fell to less than 50% for the first time in a while. Four
other countries, Germany, Australia, Estonia (a relative newcomer) and Sweden, make up almost 40% of phish sources
between them, while China - previously a major source - fell outside the top ten.
The full report can be downloaded from here.
Find out more about the phishing problem at the Virus Bulletin conference (11-13 October, Montréal), where
Michael Morgan (IBM) will present his paper
'Ichthyological anatomy, or a study of phish'.
See the full programme here or click
here to register now.
8 September 2006
Tags:
spam
del.icio.us 
digg this
As expected, the annual VB100 test on Windows XP was an epic. A higher than usual pass rate was tempered by numerous stability issues with the products under test, prompting the unveiling of a new stability rating system. John Hawes has all the details.