Loading ...The November report of Symantec Corporation discusses the global spam rate, which is at a three-year low. The report also talks of targeted attacks that have risen sharply.
Symantec Corporation is out with its November 2011 Symantec Intelligence Report wherein it has revealed that the global spam rate is the lowest in the last three years. According to the report, spam constitutes 70.5% of the e-mails received by users across the world. If you still find this figure alarming, you must know that about two years ago, almost nine out every 10 e-mails were spam. So, the improvement is apparent.
The 25-page dossier cautioned users against the presence of malware in one out of every 256 messages and a phishing attempt after every 300 mails. However that ‘as many as 5000 malicious websites are blocked every day’ really comes across like a bolt out of the blue. This unlikable phenomenon has witnessed a sharp growth of 47.8 percent in just one month.
The minor relief offered by the decline in spam rate has been overshadowed by the spurt in targeted attacks that have quadrupled since January this year. On an average, 94 targeted attacks had to be dealt with every day in November alone.
In the year 2011, the public sector has been targeted the most. It is followed by the chemical & pharmaceutical industry and the manufacturing sector.
“The aim of these targeted attacks is to establish persistent access to the targeted organization’s network, in many cases with the aim of providing remote access to confidential data. They have the potential to cause serious damage to an organization and in the long term represent a significant threat against the economic prosperity of many countries,” said Paul Wood, senior intelligence analyst, Symantec.
