Worldwide, the number of phishing attacks detected by RSA's antifraud command center was just more than 15,000, an increase of about 15% from February to March and the highest since June 2008, the company said.
In the United States, credit unions were the target of 22% of the attacks, down from 38% the month before. Regional banks accounted for 56% of the total, and nationwide banks represented 22%, as well, in March.
RSA also said in its new report that it has identified a new tool that allows online fraudsters to validate and check for free the accuracy of compromised credit and debit cards. Called a "card checker," it allows cyber-criminals to "directly exploit an online merchant's AVS check and enables compromised payment cards to be checked simultaneously," Massachusetts-based RSA said in its report.
"The discovery illustrates yet another way fraudsters have developed tools to make their lives easier and their attacks even more profitable-especially when it comes to identity theft and stolen goods," RSA said in its report, released last week.












