SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Commtouch ®
(Nasdaq: CTCH) today published the industry's first ever research
report on The State of Hacked Accounts, presenting statistics on
the theft, abuse and eventual recovery of Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and
Facebook accounts.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20110906/478788
The data reveals that most users get hacked at high rates even
when they do not think they are engaging in risky behavior, with
62% unaware of how their accounts had been compromised.
The results presented in the report rely on a comprehensive
end-user survey together with data from Commtouch's GlobalView™
Network, which tracks and analyzes billions of Internet
transactions daily.
Other highlights from the research include:
- Less than one-third of users noticed their accounts had been
compromised, with over 50% relying on friends to point out their
stolen accounts.
- 15% of users thought their credentials were stolen after they
used a public Internet terminal or WiFi network.
- One in eight hijacked accounts were used for a phony distress
email scam that asks friends to wire funds to a foreign country,
and over half of the accounts were used to send spam.
"Commtouch's poll reveals that more than two-thirds of all
compromised accounts are used to send spam and scams," said
Amir Lev, Commtouch's chief
technology officer. "This is not surprising, as cybercriminals can
improve their email delivery rates by sending from trusted domains
such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail, and enhance their open and
click-through rates by sending from familiar senders."
The report also provides tips for preventing accounts from being
compromised.
The full report on stolen accounts, as well as a brief
presentation and infographic, are available at:
http://www.commtouch.com/state-of-hacked-accounts.
The State of Hacked Accounts Report is a companion to
Commtouch's quarterly Internet Threats Trend Report, which covers
Web threats, phishing, malware, and spam. The October trend
report describes the explosion of email-borne malware in the third
quarter of 2011 to the highest levels observed in over two years.
The ultimate purpose of the huge volumes of malware has
remained unclear as spam levels continue to decrease.
Additional data from the trend report:
- Over 230 billion emails with attached malware were sent in the
outbreaks of August and September. The malware included
variants of Sasfis, SpyEye, Zeus, fake antivirus, and others.
- Phony Facebook notifications lured users to malware, while
large scale scams accumulated hundreds of thousands of
Facebook Likes
- Spam levels dropped to an average of 93 billion spam/phishing
messages per day during Q3.
- The most popular spam topic in Q3 was pharmacy ads, increasing
to 29% of all spam from 24% in Q2.
- India keeps its title as the
country with the most zombies - 18% of all zombies worldwide.
More details, including samples and statistics, and a brief
presentation summarizing the trend report are available at:
http://www.commtouch.com/threat-report-Oct-2011.
About Commtouch
Commtouch® (NASDAQ: CTCH) safeguards the world's leading
security companies and service providers with cloud-based Internet
security services. A cloud-security pioneer, Commtouch's real-time
threat intelligence from its GlobalView™ Network powers Web
security, messaging security and antivirus solutions, protecting
thousands of organizations and hundreds of millions of users
worldwide.
Stay abreast of the latest news at the Commtouch Cafe:
http://blog.commtouch.com. For more information about enhancing
security offerings with Commtouch technology, see
http://www.commtouch.com or write to info@commtouch.com.
Recurrent Pattern Detection, RPD, Zero-Hour and GlobalView are
trademarks, and Commtouch, Authentium, Command Antivirus and
Command Anti-malware are registered trademarks, of Commtouch. U.S.
Patent No. 6,330,590 is owned by Commtouch.
Commtouch Contact
Amy Kenigsberg
US: 1-913-440-4072
Int'l: +972-9-794-1681
amyk@commtouch.com
SOURCE Commtouch