Symantec Internet Security Threat Report - 2nd half 2006

FYI…

- http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release…rid=20070319_01
"March 19, 2007 – The latest Internet Security Threat Report released today by Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) reveals that the current Internet threat environment is characterized by an increase in data theft, data leakage, and the creation of targeted, malicious code for the purpose of stealing confidential information that can be used for financial gain. Cyber criminals continue to refine their attack methods in an attempt to remain undetected and to create global, cooperative networks to support the ongoing growth of criminal activity…
> Threats to Confidential Information on the Rise…
> Increase in Data Breaches Help Facilitate Identity Theft…
> Rise in Sophisticated Spam and Online Fraud Schemes…
Symantec Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) Volume XI covers the six-month period from July 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006. It is based on Symantec data collected from more than 40,000 sensors deployed in more than 180 countries in addition to a database that covers more than 20,000 vulnerabilities affecting more than 30,000 technologies from more than 4,000 vendors…"

(More detail at the URL above.)

More on same (pdf file):

- http://preview.tinyurl.com/2pky26
"…Attack Trends Highlights
• The government sector accounted for 25 percent of all identity theft-related data breaches, more than any other sector.
• The theft or loss of a computer or other data-storage medium made up 54 percent of all identity theft related data breaches during this period.
• The United States was the top country of attack origin, accounting for 33 percent of worldwide attack activity.
• Symantec recorded an average of 5,213 denial of service (DoS) attacks per day, down from 6,110 in the first half of the year.
• The United States was the target of most DoS attacks, accounting for 52 percent of the worldwide total.
• The government sector was the sector most frequently targeted by DoS attacks, accounting for 30 percent of all detected attacks.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer was targeted by 77 percent of all attacks specifically targeting Web browsers.
• Home users were the most highly targeted sector, accounting for 93 percent of all targeted attacks.
• Symantec observed an average of 63,912 active bot-infected computers per day, an 11 percent increase from the previous period.
• China had 26 percent of the world’s bot-infected computers, more than any other country.
• The United States had the highest number of bot command-and-control computers, accounting for
40 percent of the worldwide total.
• Beijing was the city with the most bot-infected computers in the world, accounting for just over five percent of the worldwide total.
• The United States accounted for 31 percent of all malicious activity during this period, more than any other country.
• Israel was the highest ranked country for malicious activity per Internet user, followed by Taiwan and Poland.
• Fifty-one percent of all underground economy servers known to Symantec were located in the United
States, the highest total of any country.
• Eighty-six percent of the credit and debit cards advertised for sale on underground economy servers known to Symantec were issued by banks in the United States…"

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FYI…

- http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix…wo_dollars.html
March 19, 2007 ~ "…Buried in the report was this little gem: Only 23 percent of all malicious software created in 2006 exploited a software security vulnerability. This is a very important stat to consider: By far the most common way that people infect their own computers with malicious software is by opening a virus-laden e-mail attachment or by clicking on a Web link included in an instant message."