Phishing gangs have been increasing their efforts against brands in the social networking, online classifieds and online gaming industries, according to the APWG.


In its assessment of the most targeted industry sectors, attacks focusing on brands in the online retail, auction and financial services sectors decreased while payment services increased more than 10 percent in Q1 2010. The category of “other” – social networking, online classifieds and online gaming industries – rose to an 18 percent proportion, however, from 13 percent in Q4 2009, an increase of more than 37 percent quarter over quarter.

Meanwhile, though the relative proportion of crimeware genera remained static during the surveyed term, the proportion of infected computers increase more than 10 percent quarter over quarter. The proportion of infected computers grew from more than 47 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to more than 53 percent in Q1 2010.


More details from the report:

• The disappearance of a rogueware variant accounted for a 37 percent decrease in total samples detected in Q1 2010 compared to Q4 2009.
• Unique phishing reports reached a Q1 2010 high of 30,577 in March, down 25 percent from the record in August 2009 of 40,621 reports.
• The number of total unique phishing websites detected at Q1’s end, in March, was 29,879, off 47 percent from high of 56,362 in August 2009.
• The number of brand-domain pairs detected at end of Q1 was 10,752, down 56 percent from the record of 24,438 in August 2009.
• The number of phished brands reached a high of 298 in March, a decrease of 16 percent from the all-time high of 356 reached in October, 2009.
• The United States continued its position as the top country hosting phishing sites during the first quarter of 2010.
• The proportion of infected computers increased from nearly 47 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to more than 53 percent in Q1 2004.

The APWG Trends Report combines data from APWG members MarkMonitor, Websense, Panda Security, Afilias and Internet Identity with the APWG’s own statistical data.