Cyveillance Reports 63 Percent of Malware Distributed by US-based Web Sites: Online Financial Fraud and Identity Theft Report Confirms the Continued Rise in Malware Distribution and Phishing Attacks

Cyveillance, the world leader in cyber intelligence, today announced its latest "Online Financial Fraud and Identity Theft Report." The report indicates that United States-based Web surfers are more at risk to malware attacks and online identity theft schemes than citizens from other countries, with more than 63 percent of malware distributed on U.S.-based Web sites. In addition more than 2 million URLs world-wide distributed malicious downloads to site visitors. Cyveillance also determined that despite the rate of traditional phishing attacks leveling off, there was a 20% increase in the aggregate quantity of brands targeted, indicating that phishers continue to change targets. Since 2005 over 1,400 companies have been attacked.

ARLINGTON, Va. (BusinessWire EON) August 20, 2007 -- Cyveillance, the world leader in cyber intelligence, today announced its latest “Online Financial Fraud and Identity Theft Report.” The report indicates that United States-based Web surfers are more at risk to malware attacks and online identity theft schemes than citizens from other countries, with more than 63 percent of malware distributed on U.S.-based Web sites. In addition more than 2 million URLs world-wide distributed malicious downloads to site visitors. Cyveillance also determined that despite the rate of traditional phishing attacks leveling off, there was a 20% increase in the aggregate quantity of brands targeted, indicating that phishers continue to change targets. Since 2005 over 1,400 companies have been attacked.

As Internet utilization rates continue to rise, the risks to organizations and consumers for data and identity theft grow exponentially. Understanding where these threats are coming from and who they are most likely to target goes a long way in proactively neutralizing these risks.

Using intelligence collected through its comprehensive Internet monitoring, Cyveillance found that of the 284 brands targeted by phishing attacks for the first time during the second calendar quarter of 2007, more than 80 percent were U.S.-based financial institutions. These figures draw a distinct parallel to the total number of compromised credit cards found online, of which more than 80 percent were supplied by US issuers.

Malware distribution via the Web has evolved into a specialized “fraud chain” comprised of malware hosting sites, distribution sites and drop sites. China and the United States host 60 percent of sites where malware binaries are stored, while 63% of the sites being used to attract and distribute malware are hosted in the United States. The United States also hosts over 50 percent of the world’s malware drop sites, which collect information from infected computers that use keyloggers, screen scrapers and other approaches to passively harvest sensitive personal information.

“Through comprehensive Internet monitoring, our cyber intelligence analysts have seen a significant quarter over quarter increase in malicious online risks targeting U.S. citizens,” said Panos Anastassiadis, CEO of Cyveillance. “As Internet utilization rates continue to rise, the risks to organizations and consumers for data and identity theft grow exponentially. Understanding where these threats are coming from and who they are most likely to target goes a long way in proactively neutralizing these risks.”

The high Internet utilization rates and strong economies in western countries have created a target rich environment for cyber criminals around the world. Looking forward to the second half of 2007, Cyveillance expects to see continued growth of cyber criminals using these highly successful formulas for targeting and stealing personal and financial data from lucrative western nations such as the United States.

All figures and statistics in the Cyveillance report are actual measurements rather than projections based upon sample datasets. The cyber intelligence included in this report includes data collected and analyzed between April 1 and June 30, 2007. Cyveillance leverages its patented Internet monitoring technology platform to continually sweep and collect information from more than 200 million unique domain name servers and 150 million unique Web sites. Cyveillance’s technology discovers on a daily basis more than 100,000 new sites, 80 million blogs, 90,000 message boards, thousands of IRC/chat channels, billions of spam emails and more.

For more information about Cyveillance’s research findings, please visit Online Financial Fraud and Identity Theft Report (http://www.cyveillance.com/fraudreport-Q207).

About Cyveillance

Cyveillance, the world leader in cyber intelligence, provides an intelligence-led approach to security. Through continuous, comprehensive Internet monitoring and sophisticated intelligence analysis, Cyveillance proactively identifies and eliminates threats to information, infrastructure, individuals and their interactions, enabling its customers to preserve their reputation, revenues, and customer trust. Cyveillance serves the Global 2000 and OEM Data Partners – protecting the majority of the Fortune 50, regional financial institutions nationwide, and more than 30 million global consumers through its partnerships with security and service providers that include AOL and Microsoft. For more information, visit www.cyveillance.com.