The number of new e-mail phishing attacks rose 42 percent from December 2004, to nearly 13,000 in January, the Anti-Phishing Working Group reported yesterday. Retailers accounted for 6 percent of the
brands hijacked in January, which is the same percentage recorded in December and November. As expected, financial services firms accounted for the most hijacked brands last month, at 80 percent,
followed by Internet service providers, at 11 percent. Phishers hijacked 64 brands last month and used 2,560 fraudulent Web sites--up 47 percent from the 1,740 sites used in December, the Working
Groups report found.
-- Gavin O'Malley