Commtouch Releases Year-End Email Threat Report
08 January 2008 - 9:00PM
Business Wire
Commtouch� (Nasdaq:CTCHD) today released its 2007 Q4 Email Threats
Trend Report, based on the automated analysis of billions of email
messages weekly. The report examines recent trends in email threats
such as the growth and development of zombie botnets that
disseminate a range of Internet threats including spam, malware,
phishing and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
Highlights of the report include: Global spam levels remain high,
reaching 96% of all email at its peak during the quarter Blended
threats combined email, malware and malicious websites �Storm Worm�
botnet caused numerous outbreaks throughout the quarter, including
several new spam formats and blended-threat emails 70% of spam
messages at the end of Q4 featured sexual enhancement products
Storm Botnet: Massive, Cunning and Aggressive Throughout Q4 the
so-called �Storm Worm� botnet was responsible for numerous
outbreaks, including MP3 spam, in which an audio stock
pump-and-dump message was distributed as an .mp3 email attachment.
During outbreak peaks, MP3 spam accounted for 7-10% of all global
spam. Like all botnets, Storm is made up of a massive global
network of PCs infected with malware that gives the botmaster
remote control. Though end-users are not likely to notice they have
been infected, the botmaster can use the hijacked computing power
to generate and send spam and malware, host malicious websites, and
even perform DDoS attacks. Traditional anti-spam, anti-virus and IP
blocking technologies are unable to keep pace with the dynamic
activation and deactivation of the endless number of dynamic IPs.
�Botnets were the culprits in all types of malicious activity
during 2007,� said Amir Lev, Commtouch�s president and chief
technology officer. �Zombies and in particular the Storm botnet are
so cunning about hiding their control channels, the only effective
way to protect against them is to dynamically detect and block
malicious zombie IP addresses.� Holiday-related Threats Sour the
Season Q4 was particularly hard-hit by wave after wave of
holiday-themed email threats. From October through New Year�s,
cyber criminals took advantage of goodwill and celebratory moods to
slip past security solutions and into inboxes. Halloween ushered in
the season with a blended-threat campaign promising an entertaining
�dancing skeleton,� but instead delivered users to a malicious
website that infected them with malware. Next a Thanksgiving spam
outbreak was sent with Subject lines offering everything from dates
to diets. Christmas delivered a holiday-themed blended-threat email
including a link to a site that attempted to download new variants
of the Storm malware. More details, including samples of spam and
blended-threat email containing malware and links to malicious
websites, are available in the Commtouch 2007 Q4 Email Threats
Trend Report, available from Commtouch Labs at:
http://www.commtouch.com/downloads/Commtouch_2007_Q4_Email_Threats.pdf
NOTE: Reported global spam levels are the ratio of Internet email
traffic as measured from unfiltered data streams, not including
internal corporate traffic. Therefore global spam levels will
differ from the quantities reaching end user inboxes, due to
several possible layers of filtering at the ISP level. About
Commtouch Commtouch Software Ltd. (NASDAQ:CTCHD) is dedicated to
protecting and preserving the integrity of the world's most
important communications tool -- e-mail. Commtouch has over 16
years of experience developing messaging software and is a global
developer and provider of proprietary anti-spam, Zero-Hour virus
protection and Reputation Service solutions. Using core
technologies including RPD (Recurrent Pattern Detection�), the
Commtouch Detection Center analyzes billions of email messages per
week to identify new spam and malware outbreaks within minutes of
their introduction into the Internet. Integrated by scores of OEM
partners, Commtouch technology protects thousands of organizations,
with hundreds of millions of users in over 100 countries. Commtouch
is headquartered in Netanya, Israel, and has a subsidiary in
Sunnyvale, Calif. For more information, see:
http://www.commtouch.com. The site includes the Commtouch online
lab detailing spam statistics and charts. Recurrent Pattern
Detection, RPD, Zero-Hour and GlobalView are trademarks, and
Commtouch is a registered trademark, of Commtouch Software Ltd.
U.S. Patent No. 6,330,590 is owned by Commtouch.
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