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Sharp Rise in Phishing Threats around Thanksgiving

On December 30, 2007, the leading cyber intelligence firm, Cyveillance, declared that the period in and around Thanksgiving witnessed a substantial increase in phishing strikes, with an over 300% rise in strikes in contrast to the average volume of phishing attempts witnessed in the earlier week.

The sudden surge in the number of phishing assault around Thanksgiving Day is a well thought out method employed by hackers during the extended weekends, very frequently aiming small enterprises and credit unions, which might not be having security squads covering 24 hours to counter risks encountered during long weekends. Therefore, cyber-criminals can easily intude into the systems of these credit unions and small businesses.

Cyber-terrorists are always on the lookout for chances to circulate phishing strikes, concentrating on circumstances when customers are most vulnerable, alleged Cyveillance's CEO, Panos Anastassiadis, as reported on December 3, 2007 by Business Wire.

Ever since the huge surge in cyber strikes around the Thanksgiving time, hackers depend on the frenzied vacation period to raise their odds of effectively victimizing customers and companies alike, particularly aiming the weak security set up.

In Q3 2007, Cyveillance spotted a major change in the trend of hacking, with malware-supported strikes rising 30% to over three million attempts. Moreover, strikes aiming European and Asian customers were increasing more rapidly than the ones made in America, signifying a sudden growth of worldwide phishing schemes exploiting earlier unexploited economically advanced countries.

Although phishing attacks are still happening in great numbers, the pace of attacking other firms and businesses has reduced considerably in contrast to the first half of 2007.

The cyber intelligence of Cyveillance proves that there was a 17 and 11% rise in the malevolent sites hosted by the French and Japanese, whereas malware strikes by sites hosted in the US dropped to 32% of total strikes, a substantial drop from 74% in the first quarter of 2007. This information emphasizes the added threat of malware-based strikes to online consumers in advanced nations throughout Europe and Asia.

The cyber intelligence has covered in this report information gathered and examined between July 1, 2007 and September 30, 2007.

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