Cybercrimes expand to global brands

While financial institutions still top the phishing radar, cybercriminals are now moving beyond to top brands, with one of the recent victims being a hardware manufacturer, according to the latest Anti-Phishing Work Group report.

Released on Sunday, the Anti-Phishing Work Group (APWG) Phishing Activity Trends Report for the fourth quarter of 2009 revealed that 356 brands were hijacked in October, an increase of 4.4 percent over the previous high of 341 recorded last August. The study was compiled using data from APWG and its members MarkMonitor, Websense and Panda Security.

The organisation noted that the number of unique phishing reports submitted to APWG had dropped nearly 29 percent against an all-time high of 40,621 in August, registering 28,897 in December following a steady decline throughout the quarter. However, member reports and reviews in the second half of 2009 indicated a substantial increase in phishing attempts geared at personnel with financial authority.

For more on this story, see Phishers target more global brands on ZDNet Asia.