Phishing Attacks Increasingly Focus on Social Networks, Studies Show

eWeek, By Robert Lemos

An analysis of three studies of phishing attacks—each focusing on different data sets—has suggested that online fraudsters are increasingly attacking social network and email services because they offer the best prospects for success.

In a survey of some 9,000 software programs and scripts used for phishing published on June 25, security firm PhishLabs found that—while the brands of financial companies and e-payment services continued to be the most popular targets—social networking brands and email services were the focus of more than a third of phishing kits.

The trend was evident in data collected by antivirus firm Kasperksy Lab as well. In the firm's quarterly spam report, the Russian security firm found that email search and social networks accounted for 61 percent of the brands targeted by blocked phishing attacks. Read more.