CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Anti-Phishing Working Group reports that the year’s record wave of
phishing subsided in the autumn. According to the APWG’s new Phishing
Activity Trends Report, the total number of phishing websites
detected in the third quarter of 2016 was 364,424, compared with 466,065
in the second quarter — a decline of 25 percent.
The second quarter of the year had the all-time-high number of phishing
attacks, and the decline represents a return to more historical norms.
The number of attacks detected per month fell from a high of 153,998 in
April to 104,349 in August.
Stefanie Ellis, AntiFraud Product Marketing Manager at MarkMonitor and
an APWG contributor said, “In August and September MarkMonitor detected
a significant dip in phishing URLs following record highs in April
through July. Volume in the third quarter was comparable with volumes
detected over the same period last year.”
APWG Senior Research Fellow Greg Aaron observed: “Phishing traditionally
ramps up again during the holiday season. We urge online consumers to be
alert, and to be careful clicking on links found in emails. When in
doubt, type in the name of the site that you wish to visit.”
The report also reveals that the Retail/Service sector,which includes
music and e-commerce sites, was the most-attacked, suffering 43 percent
of all phishing attacks in the third quarter. Attacks against the
Financial sector (composed mainly of banks) increased from 16 percent in
Q2 to 21 percent in Q3.
In malware news, the country with the worst malware infection rate was
China, where 47 percent of machines were infected. Scandinavian
countries Norway, Finland, and Sweden had the lowest infection rates.
The full text of the report is available here: https://docs.apwg.org/reports/apwg_trends_report_q3_2016.pdf
About the APWG
The APWG, founded in 2003 as the Anti-Phishing Working Group, is a
global industry, law enforcement, and government coalition of more than
2,000 institutions working to unify the global response to electronic
crime. Membership is open to qualified financial institutions, online
retailers, ISPs and Telcos, the law enforcement community, solutions
providers, multi-lateral treaty organizations, research centers, trade
associations and government agencies. The APWG’s www.apwg.org
and education.apwg.org
websites offer the public, industry and government agencies practical
information about phishing. APWG is co-founder and co-manager of the
STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention, the global online safety
public awareness collaborative https://education.apwg.org/safety-messaging-convention/
and founder/curator of the eCrime Researchers Summit, the world’s first
peer-reviewed conference dedicated specifically to electronic crime
studies www.ecrimeresearch.org.
Among APWG’s corporate sponsors include: AhnLab, Area 1, ATT (T),
Afilias Ltd., Avast!, AVG Technologies, Axur, Baidu Antivirus, Bangkok
Bank, BBN Technologies, Barracuda Networks, BillMeLater, Bkav, Blue
Coat, BrandMail, BrandProtect, Bsecure Technologies, CSC Digital Brand
Services, Check Point Software Technologies, Claro, Cloudmark, Comcast,
CSIRTBANELCO, Cyber Defender, CYREN, Cyveillance, DNS Belgium, DigiCert,
Domain Tools, Donuts, Duo Security, Easy Solutions, PayPal, eCert, EC
Cert, ESET, EST Soft, Facebook, FeelSafe Digital, FEBRABAN, Fortinet,
FraudWatch International, F-Secure, GetResponse, GlobalSign, GoDaddy,
Google, GroupIB, Hauri, Hitachi Systems, Ltd., Huawei, ICANN, Infoblox,
IronPort (Cisco), ING Bank, Infoblox, Intel (INTC), Interac,
Internet.bs, IT Matrix, iThreat Cyber Group, iZOOlogic, KnowBe4,
LaCaixa, Lenos Software, LookingGlass, MX Tools, MailChannels, MailJet,
MailChimp, MailShell, MarkMonitor, Melbourne IT, MessageLevel, Microsoft
(MSFT), MicroWorld, Mimecast, Mirapoint, NHN, NZRS, MyPW, nProtect
Online Security, Netcraft, Network Solutions, NeuStar, Nominet, Nominum,
NZRS Limited, Public Interest Registry, Panda Software, Phishlabs,
PhishMe, Planty.net, Prevalent, Prevx, Proofpoint, RSA Security (EMC),
Rakuten, Return Path, RiskIQ, RuleSpace, SalesForce, SecureBrain,
SendGrid, S21sec, SIDN, SilverPop, SiteLock, SnoopWall, SoftForum,
SoftLayer, SoftSecurity, SOPHOS, SunTrust, SurfControl, Symantec (SYMC),
Tagged, TDS Telecom, Telefonica (TEF), ThreatSTOP, TransCreditBank,
Trend Micro (TMIC), Trustwave, Vasco (VDSI), VADE-RETRO, VeriSign
(VRSN), Wombat Security Technologies, and zvelo.