Phishing Sites Reach All Time High

Source: Anti-Phishing Working Group, July 2012

Highlights from the Phishing Activity Trends Report for Q1 2012…

  • The number of unique phishing sites detected in a month by the APWG reached 56,859 in February, which was an all-time high.
  • Financial Services continued to be the most-targeted industry sector in the first quarter of 2012.
  • The average number of infected PCs across the globe stands at 35.51 percent, which is more than three percentage points lower than in 2011.
  • China continues to be the most affected country (with 54.10 percent of infected PCs), and remains the only country with an infection ratio over 50 percent.
  • Brand-Domain Pairs Measurement is up across the board with one of the biggest increases ever seen in a single quarter.
  • In the first three months of 2012, more than six million unique malware samples were identified.
  • During the quarter, USA remained the top nation for hosting phishing-based Trojans, and Azerbaijan cracked the top 10 for the first time ever, in March 2012.