The new report named "Online Financial Fraud and Identity Theft" was published by Cyveillance, provider of online risk monitoring and management solutions. The report highlights the growth of Internet attacks and identifies the industries most at risk. Security experts have identified that the two leading online identity theft risks, phishing and malware, increased significantly in the first two months of 2007, with the number of brands being phished growing by 50 percent and malware attacks growing by 200 percent. As part of its research, the company has also specifically identified more than 1 million suspected stolen social security numbers on the Internet, in just the last two months.

    During the past 12 months, phishing attacks were one of the biggest increases that Cyveillance monitored, with virtually every large financial institution and a growing number of small to medium-sized financial institutions being the most often targeted. The number of companies being phished has been consistently growing by more than 200 new brands each quarter, with a recent increase of 50% from January to February, up from 800 to 1,200 unique brands phished.

The largest increases in Phishing attacks was found in:

1. Credit Unions – 584 percent increase
2. Associations – 329 percent increase
3. Banks – 325 percent increase
4. Insurance – 300 percent increase
5. Payment Services – 285 percent increase

    Malware is contributing to the increase in online risks with its evolution from a simple nuisance to more malicious threats focused on financial gain. An increase of more than 200% growth of malware threats during January and February 2007 was found, with well over 1 million unique Web pages containing some type of malware. Cyveillance trending data shows that in December 2006, the average number of URLs detected with malware averaged less than 20,000 on a daily basis. By February 2007 this average had grown to approximately 60,000 sites daily, with a single day mid-month spike of close to 140,000. This data points to significant long term growth of this risk, as more individuals and organizations view malware as a revenue-generating fraud technique.

    Panos Anastassiadis, CEO of Cyveillance, said: “As our research shows, the breadth and depth of online risk are on the rise, with increasingly elaborate attack schemes and tactics. As a leader in Internet monitoring, we are dedicated to providing online risk monitoring and management solutions that deliver early warning of threats to an organization’s information, infrastructure and individuals. By utilizing our comprehensive data sets, chief security officers can proactively protect their company’s reputation, revenues and customer trust.”

Theft report is can be downloaded at this web site  www.cyveillance.com/IDTheftreport.