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Spam Love In February
John Stith
Staff Writer
2006-03-08
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Spam levels continue to rise according to the latest statistics from Postini. They announced on Monday that spam and encryption volumes were on the rise, virus levels were normal and IM attacks were down in February.
 | | Spam levels continue to rise |  |
Postini said they processed upwards of 22 billion emails in February and determined that after blocking 14 billion emails as directory harvest attacks (DHA), malicious attacks and email to invalid recipients, spam totaled just over 4 billion n increase of two percent compared to January, bringing the total amount of spam quarantined to 73 percent for the month. The company also filtered 2.2 million instant messaging (IM) conversations in February, stopping such IM worms as FakeMSN, Lamo.Worm and Loxbot. Unchecked, these IM worms can install spyware, adware, keystroke loggers, and root kits on victims' PCs.
"The increase in spam was due to an increase in tax preparation offers and other financial service offerings that are more prevalent as we approach April 15," said Andrew Lochart, senior director of marketing for Postini.
The top five viruses through email for February were MyTob at 18,314,716; bagle was two at 6,071,79; Netsky came in third at 5,428,218; bankfraud/Phishing was next with 2,869,819; and Swen at a nice 2,813,100.
They said their recorded volumes on phishing in February hit nearly three million, 65% lower than January. They also noted DHAs were down 47% from January to February. Only 15.5% of emails were considered legitimate.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the information is there were some decreases in the month of February. Overall, users can expect to see more cybercrime than ever as attackers zero in on niches and concentrate very specialized attacks on unsuspecting users. This is yet another reason for users to have adequate security across the board, make sure everything is updated and patched AND be careful at what you're opening and viewing. With only 15.5% of emails being legitimate, chances are it's not something you want.
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Tag: Spam
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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