Half of malware involved in phishing, research finds

Posted by Jessie Richards

Hackers are increasingly using email-delivered malware in their phishing attempts, an expert has warned.

Research from security service provider Network Box found that 55.59 per cent of all malware distributed through email in January was part of a phishing scam.

The company also pointed out that this figure increased to 57 per cent of malware in the run-up to Christmas, as cybercriminals attempted to take advantage of people shopping for presents over the internet.

In addition, the research showed that 3.3 per cent of phishing viruses originated from the UK in January, while 2.4 per cent came from Germany. However, Brazil, the US and Korea were the countries which generated the most.

Simon Heron, internet security analyst at Network Box, commented: "What's interesting is the increase in attacks from two of western Europe's major economies - the UK and Germany - as well as from the more 'traditional' centres of attack."

Javier Merchan, of cloud-based security solutions company Panda Security, recently predicted that malware will grow "exponentially" during the coming 12 months.