India Tops Spam and Phishing Chart in Asia

A recent study conducted by the international security solutions provider Symantec reveals that India is now the topmost producer of spam and phishing in Asia.

In its Internet Threat Security Report for April 2010, Symantec stated that 21% of spam traffic detected in the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region emerged from India, which accounted for 4% of the global spam volume. Here it is noteworthy that spam constituted 88% of the overall e-mail traffic in 2009.

In 2008, India accounted for 12% of the total spam volume detected in the APJ region. Clearly, the spam volume nearly doubled in 2009, taking India to the top spot, followed by South Korea and China. On global level, India is the third leading country to send out spam e-mails.

Symantec further claimed that 28% of bots (spam zombies) in the APJ region, or 6% of the world's total, are in India. Moreover, 7% of the phishing hosts in the region reside in the Indian subcontinent.

Security experts, in relation to these findings, stated that users can inadvertently allow their computers to become a part of a bonet. This might be done through clicking on malicious weblinks that are often embedded in spam e-mails distributed by botnets.

In addition to this, India ranks No. 2 in the region in terms of generating web-based attacks, with a share of 16%, China being the leader with 37% share. India had also been detected with the highest volume of cyber worm infections in the region in 2009.

In this regard, Vishal Dhupar, managing director, Symantec India, stated that the magnitude of web-based attacks emanating from India as well as other countries results in a major security challenge that requires global cooperation between security vendors, distributors and end-users, as per the news published by THE ECONOMIC TIMES on May 11, 2010.

Dhupar also said that web-based attacks are increasing continuously by tricking unsuspecting users into visiting malicious websites, which hijack the their web browsers as well as vulnerable plug-ins used to view document or video files.

So the only way in which administrators and users can reduce the risk of falling prey to online scams is to have anti-malware and anti-spam solution in place and to ensure that all hardware and software is updated with security patches.

Related article: India Remains an Easy Target for Hackers in '06

» SPAMfighter News - 5/22/2010