Cyberoam, CYREN Found Malware URLs Increased 131% in 2013

It is no news that any website can easily be compromised if not updated regularly; enabling malware developers to exploit security vulnerabilities in common content management systems.

According to the Security Yearbook for 2013 by CYREN- a Cyberoam partner, the number of malware URLs was found to have increased by 131% during 2013.

The most common Web category that was found to be hacked in 2013 were the “Education” sites.

 In addition to this, the number of phishing URLs also saw an increase by 264% during the course of 2013.

Most common categories included Free Web pages, Education, Sports, Computers and Technology, small shopping and small business sites.

Findings in the security year book also confirmed that with almost 150 million registered account holders, it is not surprising that PayPal regularly tops as a subject used in phishing attacks.

Every day around 750 new phishing websites were uncovered that specifically target PayPal users.

This equates to more than 270,000 sites annually.

Cybroam and CYREN discovered the “Exploit Kits” being used to deliver platform specific malware. This particular trend was seen throughout 2013.

In this model, users visit an infected website and their computer is scanned by an ‘invisible’ script that chooses the appropriate malware that can exploit known vulnerabilities associated with the browser, OS, PDF reader, etc.

Users were typically led to these threats by posts on social networking sites or email messages with embedded links.

Current events were increasingly used as bait to attract users to websites contaminated with malware.

Popular subjects in 2013 included the papal election and the royal baby, with the conflict in Syria being referenced when it had barely begun.

Also, Malware is increasingly tailored for specific countries.

While German email users receive fake train bookings from Deutsche Bahn or Lufthansa tickets, Americans will receive fake gift vouchers from U.S. companies, bills from their tax authorities, or even speeding fines from the police.

Other highlights from the Security Yearbook included details about new Android malwares, the huge rise in ransomware, reducing spam levels, and more.

It also includes Infographic information on ‘Top 10 countries for hijacked computer in 2013’ and a comprehensive review of ‘the Internet Security in 2013’.

In addition to these, details on ‘the returning Diet and Stock spam’ and ‘10 countries that produce 50% of spam’, are also covered in the report.

The report concludes with useful information on the ‘Security Outlook for 2014’.

Cyberoam Technologies, a Sophos Company, is a global Network Security appliances provider, offering future-ready security solutions to physical and virtual networks in organizations with its Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) and Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances.

Also, CYREN is the global leader in information security solutions for protecting web, email, and mobile transactions.

Its GlobalView Security Lab continuously innovates, their cloud-based threat detection and proactive data analytics to provide comprehensive security solutions for businesses of all sizes.