Good News for Swipers, Bad News for Typers

June 2009 web security, spam, viruses and phishing highlights

HelpNet Security posted the following regarding recent findings and analysis of Spam, Viruses and Phishing and the effect they are having on web-security.  Good news for swipers, bad news for typers.  To visit HelpNet Security, click here

Web security: Analysis of web security activity shows that 58.8 percent of all web-based malware intercepted was new in June. MessageLabs Intelligence also identified an average of 1,919 new websites per day harboring malware and other potentially unwanted programs such as spyware and adware, an increase of 67 percent since May.

Spam: In June 2009, the global ratio of spam in email traffic from new and previously unknown bad sources was 90.4 percent (1 in 1.1 emails), reflecting no change since May. Spam levels for Q2 2009 averaged 88.7 percent compared with 74.5 percent for Q1 2009.

Viruses: The global ratio of email-borne viruses in email traffic from new and previously unknown bad sources was one in 269.4 emails (0.37 percent), an increase of 0.06 percent since May. In June, 10.4 percent of email-borne malware contained links to malicious sites, an increase of 3.4 percent since May. Virus levels for Q2 2009 averaged 1 in 297.4 malicious emails compared with one in 1 in 281.2 in Q1 2009.

Phishing: One in 280.4 emails (0.36 percent) comprised some form of phishing attack, almost no change since May. When judged as a proportion of all email-borne threats such as viruses and Trojans, the number of phishing emails had increased by 6.4 percent to 96.1 percent of all email-borne malware threats intercepted in June. Phishing levels for Q2 2009 averaged 1 in 321.4, compared with 1 in 290.4 for Q1 2009.

Source: June 2009 MessageLabs Intelligence Report