Phishing Attacks Increasing

Security researchers at Kaspersky Lab have reported significant growth in phishing attacks over the last year.

In a study entitled “The Evolution of Phishing Attacks”, Kaspersky said it found 37.3 million out of its 50 million customers running its security products that were at risk of being phished from 2012 to the present, an 87 percent increase over the same period between 2011 and 2012.

“The nature of phishing attacks is such that the simplest types can be launched without any major infrastructure investments or in-depth technological research,” Kaspersky said in the report.

“This situation has led to its own form of ‘commercialization’ of these types of attacks, and phishing is now being almost industrialized, both by cybercriminals with professional technological skills and IT dilettantes.”

The security firm explained that overall, the effectiveness of phishing, combined with its profitability for criminals and how simple the process is to undertake has led to a steadily rising number of these types of incidents.

Kaspersky noted that most of the victims in 2012-2013 were located in just ten countries, that is, Russia, the US, India, Germany, Vietnam, the UK, France, Italy, China and Ukraine. These 10 countries were home to 64 percent of all phishing attack victims during this time.

In addition to a rise in the number of users attacked, the number of servers involved in phishing attacks also increased, Kaspersky said, without giving any exact numbers. Though the firm did reveal that internet giants like Yahoo, Google, Facebook and Amazon are the top targets of malicious users.

“Online game services, online payment systems, and the websites of banks and other credit and financial organizations are also common targets,” the firm added, warning users to stay vigilant when entering personal data.

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Verizon Introduces HSN For Financial Firms

Verizon on Wednesday launched a new low-latency network for financial services firms that can complete a stock transaction between New York and Chicago in as little as 14.5 milliseconds.

The new Verizon Financial Network Premier Low-Latency Service shaves as much as 5 milliseconds off the company’s current offering, a change that can translate into millions of dollars for high-frequency traders.

The new service, which becomes part of the Verizon Financial Network, uses higher performance networking technology from Ciena and takes the shortest possible path between the two metropolitan areas, according to Verizon.

Verizon is targeting the service to global banks, hedge funds, pre- and post-trade service firms and money managers who use high-performance computing algorithms and networks for speedy transactions.

High-frequency trading firms require low-latency networks to execute arbitrage transactions and algorithmic trading with minimal delay. Fiber distance between trading locations introduces latency, as does the equipment used to light the fiber.

Verizon plans on expanding the new high-speed network to other U.S. markets later this year.

CME Group, a financial derivatives marketplace, plans to use the new Verizon service in its Aurora, Ill., data and colocation center to enable companies in Chicago and New York to trade on CME Group’s platforms and more quickly exchange market data.

“We’re creating a secure, reliable high-speed path along one of the busiest financial trading routes,” Chandan Sharma, managing director of Verizon’s financial vertical markets, said in a statement.

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Oak Trail Tablets Coming Next Month

Word on the street is that Intel will keep their word and debut Oak Trail based tablets as promised next month.  Apparently, the tablets will be introduced during the week of Computex, that opens May 31.  An Intel representative was speaking with PC Advisor and basically confirmed that the first batch of tablets should be available in May.  No pertinent information in reference to design and launch schedules were revealed.  Nevertheless, many PC manufacturers such as Fujitsu, Lenovo and Samsung were said to be the first to show tablets that are based on Oak Trail and Windows 7.

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