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Phishing Attacks Increase 52% As Spam Hits Historical Low

Calendar Oct 19, 2010 • User Avatar Anthony Pell
1 min read
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Topics Covered

cybersecurity phishing email security spam reduction phishing trends
Phishing attacks have risen sharply even though spam has declined to its lowest level since 2008, a new report reveals. For September 2010, spam comprised 89.4% of all email, down from 92.5% in August, according to a new report from Symantec. The September total was the lowest level since 2008, when rogue ISP McColo was shut down. Phishing jumped by 52% in September from the month before.

"This [phishing increase] was primarily due to an increase in both automated toolkit attacks and unique phishing websites," said Symantec. Meanwhile, the number of phishing websites -- generated by automatic toolkits -- increased by 46%, unique URLs increased by 83% and phishing websites with all-numeric IP domains -- such as -- rose by roughly 35%.

The link for this article located at Information Week is no longer available.