Phishing Emails Increased 3 Fold Last Week. China No.1 Generator, Jumping from 10th Place.
Phishing emails increased from 0.4% of total
spam 2.2% during the last week, the highest level of phishing emails since
July 2006, according
to Marshal’s Threat Research and Content Engineering (TRACE). The spike
represents a tripling of the average phishing email rates over the last
six months. China is now the number one generator of phishing emails in
the world, jumping from 10th position last week.
Major targets for phishing emails in the past week include Fifth Third Bank, National Australia Bank and Bendigo Bank, according to the TRACE team.
The TRACE team reported that Christmas Spam rates have exploded over November. At the end of October there was almost zero Christmas Spam distributed, but it now represents 10.9% of spam overall.
“Like spam levels, which have almost doubled in the past month, the current spike in phishing emails is in part being driven by the Christmas season,” said Bradley Anstis, Director of Product Management for Marshal.
