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December 9, 2008

Phishing site data shows jump in crimeware

Number of crimeware-spreading URLs increase by 258%

By Jason Stamper

Numbers of crimeware-spreading websites have tripled in 12 months, and phishers are using smarter and more sophisticated tools to coordinate more targeted phishing campaigns, latest data has shown.

Figures just released by anti-phishing organisation APWG show that the number of crimeware-spreading URLs exploded to a record high of 9,529, which is some 258% higher than at the end of the year-ago period in Q2 2007.

In a new report released this week the industry association has suggested that the large boost is attributed mainly to malicious code being utilised in SQL injection attacks.

E-commerce and web-based email sites are most vulnerable to phishing scams, but it is businesses in the financial services sector that continue to be the most targeted, APWG chairman Dave Jevans said.

“The current financial crisis has been used by phishers to create new scams that try to scare consumers into entering their usernames and passwords into sites that mimic those of well known distressed financial institutions.”

China, Turkey and the US count as the top three sources of phishing sites according to the Anti-Phishing Working Party, which has monitoring internet phishing activities since 2003.

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