Spam is risky for IT managers

BANGALORE, INDIA: Spam poses a major source for phishing attacks in corporate organization, said a latest survey of SMBs on the continued danger of phishing attacks.

The survey findings were release by SpamTitan Technologies, a provider in spam and web filtering software.

The research showed that despite media reports about the rise in phishing on social networking sites its perceived threat to businesses is marginal in comparison with traditional spam techniques.

An overwhelming majority (75 per cent) of IT managers surveyed regard traditional spam as the top security threat.

Opinion was divided over whether business network security measures have caused phishing attacks to migrate from email to social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook with 37 per cent saying it is a growing phenomenon while 31 per cent disagree. Instead they regard the move to on-line phishing as a natural response the growth in the user communities of the main social networking sites.

Clear policies along with improvements in user education and awareness topped recommendations as the best way to beat phishing in all its forms.

“Phishing attacks remain a clear and present threat to businesses,” said  Ronan Kavanagh, CEO of SpamTitan Technologies.

“There is no evidence to suggest that network security measures are discouraging the number of phishing attacks it is simply that the arrival of social networking in the workplace has presented phishers with a bigger pond to phish in.”

SpamTitan’s survey findings about the phishing threat posed by social networking sites are consistent with another Internet security report from earlier this year, said a press release.

According to antivirus software vendor Kaspersky Labs Facebook's share of phishing attacks in the first three months of 2010 was just 5.7 per cent. This earned it fourth place on the list of most-targeted Web sites a long way behind the leaders HSBC, eBay and PayPal which alone accounts for more than 52 per cent of all scams.