MX Logic Threat Forecast September 2009

As we head into September, MX Logic anticipates spam levels to remain at all time highs, accounting for more than 9 out of 10 emails sent. Hackers continue to look for new ways to exploit e-mail and Web for personal gain. With the web of trust that users generally have with the people they are connected to on social networking sites, we expect to see an increase in spam and malware disguised as legitimate messages from someone the recipient knows. In addition, as the U.S. healthcare reform debate continues to heat up, there’s a strong chance we’ll begin to see forms of political ‘hacktivism’ impacting the performance and availability of popular social networking sites.

Key findings from August include:

• Overall spam volume (total number of spam messages) slowed slightly, however spam levels (percentage of spam versus all email) inched up to 94.9 percent of all email sent.

• The United States continues to hold a slim lead over Brazil with respect to being the country that produces the most spam.

• Healthcare remained the most prevalent category of spam.

• Fake UPS or DHL invoices remain the most popular theme to use with malware attached directly to email. In fact, this tactic made up 4 of the top 5 malicious email campaigns

The attached Zip file includes:

• Intro Page.doc

• Cover Sheet and Terms.pdf

• MX Logic Threat Forecast September 2009.pdf

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