Three-fold global increase in infected websites

Peter Dinham
Wednesday, 01 April 2009 16:48

Business IT - Technology

“Their goals of financial gain and espionage remain the same, however.”

Wood also reminds us that on 26 March the Melissa virus reached its tenth anniversary and he says it’s now a permanent feature on the threat landscape with MessageLabs services still intercepting on average ten copies a month.

“Since intercepting the virus in March 1999, MessageLabs anti-virus service has stopped 108 different strains and more than 100,000 copies of the virus,” Wood says.

Wood also warns that throughout the first quarter of this year, spammers have continued to rely on the economic recession to target their spam campaigns at consumers who are finding it more difficult to secure credit and are more vulnerable during uncertain times.
 
MessageLabs Intelligence noted an increase in genuine emails being sent by cash-strapped individuals who have turned to email as a means of seeking charitable assistance from some businesses.
 
“These messages are small in volume by comparison with the wider volume of spam and phishing emails, but seemingly equally liable to provoke an inflamed response from many recipients who believe they are fakes or scams.”