2 out of 10 spam mails come from India

Twenty percent of the spam mails that were sent out worldwide in the quarter ended March 31, 2012, originated in India, according to a study by security software firm Trend Micro.

Twenty percent of the spam mails that were sent out worldwide in the quarter ended March 31, 2012, originated in India, according to a study by security software firm Trend Micro.

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"The quarter's top spam-sending countries included India at 20 %, Indonesia at 13 %, South Korea at 12 % and Russia at 10 %," the report said.

The report added that attacks are now more of a long-term, on-going campaign, versus the typical 'smash-and-grab incidents' favoured by cybercriminals in the past.

"The number of targeted attacks has dramatically increased. Unlike largely indiscriminate attacks that focus on stealing credit card and banking information associated with cybercrime, targeted attacks noticeably differ and are better characterised as 'cyber espionage'," Trend Micro Country Manager India and SAARC Amit Nath said.

The report said cybercriminals are also capitalising on the growth of Android-based smartphones and this quarter's report identified about 5,000 new malicious Android apps.

"With the increased use of smartphones for Internet access and the huge Android user base, the increase in attacks targeting the platform is thus not surprising," the report said.

The report also found that Apple, which is considered to have one of the safest operating systems, has the highest vulnerability.

"Apple surpassed Oracle, Google and Microsoft in reported vulnerabilities, with a total of 91. Oracle came in second, with 78; Google, 73; and Microsoft, 43," it said.

In recent days, Apple security saw the outbreak of Flashback Trojan (malware) which at its height infected more than 6 lakh computers.

Despite some innovative efforts by Apple to eradicate Flashback, recent tallies estimate that 1.4 lakh Macs remain infected with the malware.