The number of password-stealing programs used by fraudsters climbed during the summer, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group.
The trade group's August report said the number of unique keylogging programs rose 35%, to 294, between May and August. The number of Web sites hosting those programs has fluctuated since May and was at 2,880 in August, said the report, which was published in November.
The majority of phishing attacks are still aimed at financial companies. In August, 93.8% of the phishing scams the group tracked were designed to steal users' credentials with financial companies. The other targets included retailers, Internet service providers, and government agencies.
The industry is getting better at responding to phishing scams. The group found that phishing sites were online for just 3.3 days on average in August, before being forced offline. In June the average duration was 3.8 days.
