According to the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, volume 10, there is a steady increase in social engineering attacks in 2010. The data was pulled from Microsoft’s customer base as well as partners and Internet Service providers.

Most of the attempts or attacks are made to churn out the name and password of social networking sites which might be used for other financial sites. As per Microsoft the trend of phishing attacks is shifting from financial sites to social networking sites and gaming sites.

Rogue Security Software

Rogue security software or scareware is designed like legitimate software which when installed on a victim’s machine, generates erroneous alerts and tricks the users to buy more softwares or services.

As per a report on rogue security software by Symantec, it said it received reports of 43 million installation attempts. It is told that it is computer security awareness training programs are the best way to defend against these malicious activities. A few web filtering technologies provided by various vendors also help.

Source: TechTarget