Phishing attacks back on the rise

Phishing attacks rose last month after a period of decline, logging a three per cent increase to more than 18,000, according to the latest Online Fraud Report (PDF) from RSA Security.

A total of 18,080 attacks were recorded in April, an increase for the first time in three months.

US firms led the way in terms of the top countries by attacked brands, with 49 per cent.

However, the total number of brands attacked decreased during the period by 19 per cent compared to March.

The findings echo the latest MessageLabs Intelligence report out today from Symantec Hosted Services (SHS), which recorded a rise in phishing attacks of 0.2 per cent to reach one in every 237.1 emails.

There was some good news, however. The RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center now claims to have shut down more than 300,000 phishing scams.