VASCO Data Security International, Inc. has announced the results of its aXs Guard Gatekeeper Internet Threat Survey. VASCO surveyed 400 small and medium sized enterprises with 5 to 250 internet users during the month of July 2008, revealing malicious activity during the traditional European holiday season.
The results of July 2008 are weighed against May 2008 and the major trends reveal to be:
* During the summer more different types of viruses are active
* Spammers seem to be on holidays
* Internet surfing is on the rise
* Slight decrease in spyware
* Slight increase of phishing attempts
During the month of July 2008 the amount of active viruses has increased by 25%, whereas the number of virus attacks has more than doubled compared to May 2008. The survey also revealed that newly created viruses immediately score very high and are among the top 10 most frequent viruses during that period. The increased presence of viruses could be explained by less vigilance due to reduced staffing of ICT departments during the holiday season.
Furthermore, the survey reveals that spammers are also on vacation. There was a decrease of 25% in spam blocked by the aXs GUARD spamfilter, combined with an increase of detected spam robots and blacklisted clients. An increase in detected spam robots and blacklisted client was seen, because due to holiday season spammers continue to use their ‘old’ spam bots and ip-adresses.
People also seem to have more time on their hands. This was detected from an increase in surfing behaviour in July 2008 compared to May 2008. In regards to predefined blacklisted websites, such as porn, gambling and violent content, there was a slight increase in surfers trying to visit this type of content during the month of July 2008. However, a decrease in attempts to visit websites which companies block on a company to company basis, such as YouTube, Facebook and others, was noticed. Once employees have figured out that certain websites are blocked as a result of company policy, they no longer try to visit these sites.
A positive development is that people seem to become more aware of the damage which can be done by spyware. In July 2008 the blocked spyware attempts dropped with 5% compared to May 2008. However a small increase in phishing attempts was noted. Phishing asks for increased security measure when making financial transactions online. VASCO offers a whole array of products to protect financial transactions from being intercepted by phishers.
According to Jan Valcke, President and COO at VASCO Data Security: “Surveys such as our aXs Guard gatekeeper survey are necessary to demonstrate the vulnerability of companies on the internet. Surveys as these clearly indicate that all companies, including SMEs, are vulnerable for internet fraud. Holiday periods can be potentially dangerous considering certain companies are less vigilant. However, our sample demonstrates that SMEs increasingly are investing in protecting themselves from online attacks. We could not stress more the importance of automated solutions which ensure companies to have the same level of vigilance throughout the year.”
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