The total number of unique phishing attacks went down
this July when compared with June, but the number of phishing
websites has continued to increase.
Phishing see remote attackers send e-mails to users that look
like genuine messages from mainly well-known companies.
The messages usually contain a web link that guides the user to
a fake branded website which tries to glean the personal and
security details of the victim, to enable phishers to commit
fraud.
The latest report by the industry-backed Anti Phishing Working
Group (APWG) says there were 23,670 unique phishing attacks using
e-mail in July, which was a 5% decrease on June.
But the number of unique phishing websites detected by the APWG
rose to 14,191 in July 2006, an increase from June and the highest
number ever recorded.
July also saw the highest ever number of company brands
subjected to phishing attacks, with 154 targeted by phishers.
Financial services continued to be the most targeted industry
sector, growing to 93.5% of all attacks in July.
The US remains the top country when it comes to hosting phishing
attacks, responsible for 29.85% of them.
The rest of the top-10 breakdown is as follows – South Korea
with 13.34%, China with 12%, France on 5.87%, Australia (4.56%),
Germany (3.32%), Japan (3.04%), Canada (1.78%), Thailand (1.59%),
and Italy on 1.52%.
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