Dangerous spyware threats exceed predictions for the 2006 holiday season

The PC Tools‘ Malware Research Center reported today that fraudsters were tracking buyers habits and attempting to steal personal identification and login information as holiday spending increased by 24 percent.

“We saw a major increase in cyber crime this year,” said Michael Greene, Vice President for Product Strategy. “There was an increase of more than 40 percent with major surges in phishing, keylogging, and other direct attempts to steal private information from users.”

“You can expect that this year’s cyber attacks will be even more sophisticated with legitimate sites targeted. Users will again be hijacked to bogus sites in attempts to steal information and money,” Greene said.