2013 Q1 Report Reveals Drastic Malware Increase with 873 Million Spam Messages Sent Each Day

The first quarter of 2013 has come and gone but not without discovering that our malware rate increase predictions have come to fruition according security firm Commtouch's Internet Threats Trend Report for Q1 2013.

Nearly all types of malware threats have demonstrated an increase during the first quarter of 2013 when compared to December 2012. Within the newly released Commtouch Internet Threats Trend Report for Q1 2013, it reveals spam levels increasing by 98%, phishing by 74%, and recorded virus outbreaks accounted for an astonishing 290% growth and emails porting malware accounted for an almost just as stunning rate of 157% growth.

These malware growth rates are not only surprising, but they represent an unprecedented rise in the quantity of malware throughout the world. In just one day alone Commtouch revealed as many as 873 million spam messages sent. Collectively, that number easily reaches over a billion within just a couple days.

In delving deep into the Commtouch report for the first quarter of 2013, the most popular communication tool for private and business users remains to be email. In knowing this, it makes email one of the most attractive targets for cybercriminals.

Also divulged in the Q1 2013 Commtouch report, is the idea that other tools widely used to spread malware and account for the drastic increase of malware rates are exploit kits. The BlackHole Exploit Kit, once thought to have met its demise, has returned with a vengeance. Hackers and cybercrooks have gravitated towards such exploitation tools to leverage massive campaigns that take advantage of popularized news stories and subject matter. Basically, anything that draws the curiosity of the masses is a cybercrooks virtual lure for the sea of potential computer user victims.

As far as a demographic breakdown of malware and other threats reported by Commtouch, the US tops the chart for Spam sources accounting for 9.1% of the total volume followed by Belarus at 6.5%, Spain at 5.6%, Argentina at 5.0%, and India at 4.3%. During the month of March, daily spam emails accounted for a volume of 117.8 billion messages. Mind you, there are just about 7 billion human beings on this plant we call Earth. Basically, spam messages are hammering us all into oblivion.

To visually demonstrate how March overshadowed other months during the massive influx of malware in the time frame of Q1 2013, the chart below (Figure 1) sourced from Commtouch clearly graphs spam trends detected.

Figure 1. Detected Spam Trends during First Quarter of 2013 - Source: Commtouch

It is never good news to hear how previous predictions of how malware will increase this year, especially when the volume is far beyond anyone else's forecasts. If you have the time, we encourage you to view the complete Commtouch Q1 2013 Internet Threats Trend Report with a summarized presentation.