New Sophos Security Report released today

Paul Ducklin, Sophos’s head of technology for Asia Pacific, is available for media comment and can be contacted on:
Email: duck@sophos.com

Phone: +64 2 9409 9112 / Mobile: 0407 320 515

- Lack of education leads to rising tide of web, email and social networking attacks -

Sydney, 10 December 2008 -- IT security and control firm, Sophos, has published its Security Threat Report 2009 examining the threat landscape over the last twelve months, and predicting emerging cybercrime trends for 2009.

By the end of 2008, Sophos was tracking five times more malicious attacks arriving through files attached to emails than at the start of the year.

Furthermore, spammers and malware authors have shown a deadly interest in websites like Facebook - breaking into innocent users' accounts to take advantage of trusted social networks and send spam and malware.

"The last year proved beyond doubt that internet hacking gangs are organised like never before, often working across borders to steal money and data from unsuspecting users. The volume of attacks has increased, with hackers using automated systems to break into vulnerable websites or generate new variants of their malware," continued Cluley.

"People need to wake up to the reality that the completely legitimate website they are visiting could be harbouring a dangerous malware infection planted by hackers. As we enter 2009 we are not expecting to see these assaults diminish. As economies begin to enter recession it will be more important than ever for individuals and businesses to ensure that they are on guard against internet attack."

STATS AND FINDINGS AT A GLANCE -

* Biggest malware threats - SQL injection attacks against websites and the rising tide of scareware

* New web infections - one new infected webpage discovered by Sophos every four and a half seconds (Three times faster than in 2007).

* Malicious email attachments - five times more at end of 2008 than at the beginning

* USA hosts the most malware on the web (37 percent), usurping China's position in 2007.

* USA computers relay the most spam (17.5 percent)

* Increasing allegations of state-sponsored cybercrime, as China, North Korea, Russia and Georgia amongst those accused of espionage and assaults via the internet.

USA IS THE NUMBER ONE COUNTRY HOSTING MALWARE IN 2008

In 2007, China was responsible for hosting over 50 percent of all web-based malware. However, in 2008 this position was stolen by the USA.

Elsewhere in the chart, Australia is ranked 13th, whilst New Zealand occupies 51st place.

The top ten list of malware-hosting countries in 2008 reads as follows:

1. United States 37.0%

2. China (incl HK) 27.7%

3. Russia 9.1%

4. Germany 2.3%

5. S Korea 2.1%

6. Ukraine 1.8%

7. United Kingdom 1.7%

8. Turkey 1.5%

9. Czech Republic 1.3%

10. Thailand 1.2%

Others 14.3%

ends

About Sophos

Sophos enables enterprises worldwide to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Our network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift.

With over 20 years of experience, we protect over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with our reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognized for our high level of customer satisfaction, we have an enviable history of industry awards, reviews and certifications. Sophos is headquartered in Boston, MA and Oxford, UK.

Sophos's head office for the Asia Pacific region is located in Sydney and features research and development, threat analysis and technical support facilities.