Intelius has consistently found that many people are susceptible to identity theft and other internet attacks through their email accounts. The communication channel is especially open to infections from Trojan viruses, reports German security firm Eleven.
According to a new report issued by the company, Trojan viruses accounted for 69 percent of all malware sent through email in May, relays the Whir. Since the beginning of 2010, the volume of malware spread via the channel has increased dramatically, from 0.01 percent to 0.1 percent.
The Sasfis Trojan variants were especially common, accounting for the top three Trojans proliferated through email. All three variants masqueraded as delivery messages, infecting unaware users who thought they were receiving emails from post and package services.
Meanwhile, Eleven also reported that spam mail was up in May, making up 96 percent of all email traffic for the month. The majority of these messages were pharmaceutical-related.
Email was recently used by cybercriminals to propagate a World Cup-themed attack. The email instructs readers to download a file that contains information about a soccer scandal and then infects their systems, reports ZDNet. To prevent these types of attacks, computer users should avoid downloading suspicious attachments in their emails.
