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Phishing Attacks: Analyzing Trends in 2006

This paper analyzes trends seen in phishing attacks throughout 2006 based on real-world data obtained through Symantec’s phishing data collection fabric. We examine both the prevalence and breakdown of phishing web sites as well as the frequency and breakdown of phishing emails. Beyond just the extent of data collected, our study differs from previously published studies in this area in two regards: • We discuss the data collection methodology (together with its limitations and biases) so that readers are better positioned to place the results in the appropriate context; • We perform a fine-grained analysis considering seasonal & day-of-week effects, geographic distinctions, brand segmentations, and geographic/population targets. We found a number of intriguing properties of phishing attacks. These include seasonal and day-of-week fluctuations in activity and fluctuations related to what brands are being spoofed. We also determined the industries, regions, languages, and population segments that appear to be targeted in these attacks.