China on the rise as overall spam and virus levels decline

The level of spam and viruses has dropped for the second month running, as the US and Brazil continue to be the primary sources, according to Network Box.

Network Box’s analysis of Internet threats in September 2009 shows that although the overall level of spam and viruses has dropped slightly, viruses originating from Brazil have risen by two per cent, and China has replaced Korea as the third largest source of spam, its levels rising by just one per cent in September.

Brazil is back on top as the world’s number one source of viruses, with 16.4 per cent of viruses coming from the country, beating the US by 4.6 per cent and Korea by a massive 10.4 per cent.

Although Brazil also tops the spam charts, levels of spam originating from Brazil has dropped by 1.6 per cent in September. Levels of spam from the US have also dropped by 1.10 per cent.

Phishing attacks remain consistently high at 33.2% of all viruses.

Simon Heron, Internet Security Analyst for Network Box says: “The concern here is the proportion of phishing attacks. It suggests that this is proving to be a successful tactic and it can be seen that the exploits are becoming increasingly sophisticated. So IT departments should take this opportunity as people are back from holiday to repeat their warnings about phishing, make themselves aware of the threat and ensure their defences are fully updated.”