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

.

Posted on 8 September 2006 by

Virus Bulletin