48% of Computers Infected

APWG, a phishing enforcement association, recently released its Q3 report on phishing in 2009.

The report indicates that more than 40,000 unique phishing reports were submitted in the quarter, the highest level in history. Unique phishing websites were also record-setting. Phishing, as defined in the report, considered both social engineering as well as technical subterfuge in order to steal personal data.

Some interesting data from the report:

• 341 brands were hijacked in August, the highest month on record
• Financial services was the most targeted industry sector
• Data-stealing malware was on the rise
• Total number of infected computers was down, though at 48.35% of the records, that's over 11 million infected computers
• USA, China and Russia hosted the most malware

The report contains quite a lot of very specific data about phishing and malware, it's a good read.

Via lockergnome