CircleID

The MarkMonitor Fraud Intelligence Report for the third quarter of 2011 is now available. The findings are:

Phishing Attacks Increase from Previous Quarter – Phish attack volume grew 7% from the previous quarter to 103,702 attacks.

Organizations Targeted Declined Again – The number of targeted organizations continued to decline, decreasing 2% from the second quarter to 488.

Attacks per Organization Returned to Growth – Attacks per organization volume increased 9% from Q2 2011 to 213.

Retail Sector Continued to Grow as a Popular Phishing Sector – Retail/Service phishing continued to increase, growing 43% to 14,572 attacks. The Financial sector continued to be the most phished industry, accounting for 44% of phish attacks, while the Payment Services sector accounted for 20%.

Social Networking Sector Returned to Growth – Social Networking sector phish increased 33% from the second quarter to 4,767 attacks and was 145% above its level from a year ago.

Phishing Attacks Increasingly Target Chinese Brands – Attacks targeting Chinese brands accounted for 14% of phishing last quarter, making China the second most popular country whose brands are targeted by phishing. American brands remained in the top spot with 56% of phishing attacks, while British brands dropped to the number three position with 12% of phishing attacks. Other important countries whose brands were targeted include Brazil, Canada, Spain, the Dominican Republic and South Africa.

Phishing Attacks Hosted in Hong Kong are the Most Popular After United States – In the third quarter, phish hosted in Hong Kong accounted for 6% of phishing attacks, while the US accounted for 54%. Canada dropped behind Hong Kong, hosting 5% of attacks. Other important countries hosting phish attacks include Germany, the UK, France, Brazil, China, Russia and Australia.

For more detail, the full report is available for download here:
MarkMonitor Fraud Intelligence Report, Q3 2011

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Related topics: Cyberattack, Cybercrime, Security