Phishing leaps fivefold as banks fall prey to attacks

Phishing attacks against global financial institutions rocketed by 568 per cent between June and the end of October 2004, newly revealed research has found.

UK-based internet monitoring firm Envisional reported that a marked increase in phishing, not only in volume but in the number of banks targeted, has been evident over recent months.

The average number of banks hit on each day in June 2004 was 2.6; by October it was five.

The report revealed that the top 10 targeted banks in October included six of the UK's best-known high street names: Citibank, SunTrust, Barclays, Halifax, Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Smith Barney, Abbey, Citizens Bank and Nationwide.

Ben Coppin, chief operating officer at Envisional, said: "The increase in phishing fraud shows no sign of slowing in the near future, and there is every chance that the trend will continue to rise as we approach the Christmas season.

"This year more people than ever will be Christmas shopping on the internet, and will be using online payment methods to do so.

"Those people who have internet bank accounts will certainly be using them, and many will be carrying out online transactions for the first time. The perpetrators of phishing fraud will no doubt be ready to take advantage of the inexperienced and the unwary."

The statistics are based on Envisional's Spam Trap system which the company said collects and analyses tens of thousands of global spam emails every day.

See also:

Phishers use zombie nets to automate attacks

Anti-Phishing Working Group reports 'disturbing' new trend  24 Nov 2004

Stop spam from filtering through

As the volume of unsolicited email grows, filtering solutions must become more sophisticated to sort the wheat from the chaff  22 Nov 2004

Lashings of seasonal spam

Many users may find their inboxes uncomfortably full come Christmas day  19 Nov 2004

Phishing scam forces NatWest services offline

Bank suspend elements of its online service to protect customers  17 Nov 2004

E-commerce faces a crisis of trust

Online trade could be irreparably damaged unless firms do more to combat scams  17 Nov 2004

Trojan mugs UK web banking customers

Banker-AJ Trojan sends passwords and screenshots to remote hackers  11 Nov 2004

Security

The latest wave of cyber-crimes and acts of vandalism have demonstrated once again that many systems are still vulnerable to attack.  15 Apr 2004

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