Report: Malicious Spam, Social Engineering Attacks Rising
M86 Security, a provider of Web and messaging security products, recently unveiled its latest Security Labs Report, detailing a massive increase in spam volumes and recent vulnerabilities in applications including Adobe products and attacks via social networking sites such as Twitter.
M86 security researchers analyze more than seven million distinct email
messages every day looking for patterns and emerging trends. By
correlating this data with Web exploit and vulnerability research, M86
achieves a comprehensive vantage point on evolving Internet threats and
publishes a bi-annual report with these findings. The latest report is
based on the second half of 2009.
The report highlights a surge in attacks through social networking sites
such as Twitter because of the increased use of shortened URLs.
Shortened URLs have become a favorite tool of attackers because not only
do they make it easier to obscure malicious links, but they also exploit
end users' trust through social engineering.
The majority of malicious
links observed by the M86 team on services such as Twitter and Facebook
abuse shortened URLs and similar malicious links have also been observed
in spam messages.
Zero-Day application vulnerabilities such as those within the Internet
Explorer and Adobe products are becoming just as prevalent as those seen
in the operating systems themselves as hackers take advantage of such
application vulnerabilities. Recent examples from the Security Labs
Report include an increase in the use of malicious PDF files targeting
Adobe products.
Spam remains a significant threat to businesses and government
organizations: not only does spam consume valuable network resources; it
remains a popular conduit for the distribution of malware, phishing and
other scams by cyber criminals. The new Security Labs Report notes that
the volume of malicious spam has dramatically increased; reaching 3
billion messages per day, compared to 600 million messages per day in
the first half of 2009.
The vast majority of spam is sent via Botnets of infected computers.
These networks of compromised computers, sometimes known as zombies, are
revenue-generating businesses for organized, professional criminals. The
M86 Security Labs Report names the major spam Botnets and reveals that
78 percent of all spam during the last six months of 2009 originates
from just five of the Botnets.
To download the complete version of the latest M86 Security Labs Report,
visit http://www.m86security.com/labs/resources.asp.