Symantec Report Finds Vulnerabilities Up by 16 Percent in First Half of 2013

The latest Symantec Intelligence Report found the total number of vulnerabilities in the first half of 2013 was up by 16 percent compared to the same time period in 2012. The number of zero day vulnerabilities discovered in the first half of 2013 has already reached a total of 12, compared to only 14 found for the whole of 2012.

In addition, the report also found that small and medium businesses (SMBs) continue to be a target market segment for cybercriminals. The highest ratio of phishing attacks in June 2013 was identified in emails sent to SMB organisations (1-250 employees), with 1 in 325 emails blocked as a phishing scam, compared with 1 in 293 for 2012.

Phishing attacks spoofing financial organisations, including banks, accounted for 69 percent of phishing scams in June. This includes a variety of information and personal details that can be used for identity fraud, and theft of financial details can be quickly turned into large amounts of money, rather than goods which must be laundered first and require more time to process.

For more details on the vulnerabilities, phishing attacks and latest analysis on data breaches, malware, spam and endpoint security, please refer to the June 2013 Symantec Intelligence Report.