Symantec reportinternetsecurity
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The document is an introduction to the Symantec Internet Security Threat Report for 2011. Some key points: - Symantec blocked over 5.5 billion malware attacks in 2011, an 81% increase over 2010, with 403 million new malware variants created, a 41% rise. - More than 232.4 million identities were exposed in data breaches during the year. Targeted attacks, politically motivated attacks, and mobile threats increased significantly. - Government agencies were most targeted by email attacks while businesses faced advanced persistent threats. Phishing and spam activity also increased although spam fell as a percentage of total email. - Malware targeting Macs rose and mobile threats presented new risks as smartphone usage
Symantec reportinternetsecurity
- 1. SYMANTEC INTERENT SECURITY THREAT SYMANTEC INTERNET SECURITY THREAT REPORT
- 2. Foreword As the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), it gives me immense pleasure to present The Internet Security Threat Report from Symantec, for the year 2011. This report, made available by the ITU, shall be the forerunner of many reports that I aspire to put forward in order to emphasize the importance of cybersecurity in this era. On 19th May 2011, through its publicprivate partnership with Symantec, ITU reached new milestones in the fight against cyber threats, further strengthening the security in the usage of ICTs. ITUs ongoing commitment to publish Symantec security reports aims to appraise Member States of the rising cyber threats, subsequently creating a safer and more secure cyber space for general consumers, businesses and most significantly children and youth at large. The Internet Security Threat Report volume 17, published in May 2012 provides an overview and analysis of global threat activity for the year 2011. The highlights of the report were: 則 Symantec blocked over 5.5 billion malware attacks in 2011. Malicious attacks increased by 81% compared to the year 2010. 403 million new variants of malware were created in 2011, which is 41% more compared to 2010. The three most prevalent malicious programs for the year 2011 were Ramnit, Sality.AE, and Bamital; 則 More than 232.4 million identities were exposed overall in 2011. The most frequent cause for data breaches was theft or loss of a medium on which data is stored or transmitted; 則 Targeted attacks, politically motivated attacks, data breaches and attacks on certificate authorities were prominent and increased in 2011. Government and Public sector organisations were the most targeted by email attacks in the year 2011, while a rising tide of advanced targeted attacks also puts businesses of all sizes at risk; 則 Spam activity fell from 88.5% in 2010 to 75.1% in 2011. Spammers are now focusing more on social networking, URL shorteners and other technologies that challenge spam blocking; 則 As malicious programs targeting Macs was on the rise, this trend is expected to continue through 2012 as the codes become more integrated with the wider web-足attack toolkits; 則 Phishing activity continued to rise for the year 2011. Phishing schemes continued to use major events to entice recipients; 則 As the sales of smartphones rose, mobiles offer new opportunities of potentially more profitable cybercrimes. 2011 has thus become the first year that mobile malware presented a tangible threat to enterprises and consumers, with an increase of 93.3% in mobile space vulnerabilities. Moreover, malware authors will continue to explore ways to attack mobile phones and tablets; I believe the information presented in this report successfully highlights the present and predicts the future trends in cyber threats. Thanks to our partnership and common determination, we have managed to raise awareness and control cyber risks to a great extent. This information lays emphasis on the potential cyber threats and the areas with scope for improvement and further facilitates the creation of a more protected and reliable cyber space. Dr. Hamadoun I. Tour辿 Secretary-足General, ITU