Economy Sinks, Phish Rise

Shouldn't surprise anybody, but the worse the economy gets, the more aggressive the phishers become. Some new statistics show just how aggressive that is.The phishing stats from Cyveillance showed an average of 400 or so phishing attacks a day through the first quarter of 2008.

Those were the days!

Cyveillance's figures for October showed that with the global economy in something like free-fall, the globe's phishers were moving in the opposite direction, averaging more than 1,750 phish-floats a day in October, with surges -- brace yourself -- in excess of 13,000 phish hooks some days.

Look: they wouldn't be doing this if at least some of those hooks didn't attract clicks from the unwary. And in challenging economic times it's all too easy for our wariness to slip.

Now's the time to remind your employees and co-workers (and your family and friends) that the scammers are working harder than ever to catch people off-guard.

And once you've reminded them, remind them again: the economy's not likely to turn around quickly, and neither are the record numbers of phishing scams.

Good phishing and anti-phishing resources at the Anti-Phishing Working Group here.