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Banks drew the increased attention of fraudsters in November, according to the RSA Online Fraud Report issued by security company RSA Security Inc. In November, fraudsters targeted 207 global bank brands in online phishing attempts, in which criminals attempted to steal consumer payment information by posing as legitimate institutions in e-mail messages. That was a 24% increase from the October tally of 167 brands. The total number of phishing attacks also rose slightly in November, to 10,626, from the October tally of 10,580. The United States continues to host the largest portion of attacks at 61% of the total worldwide, and U.S. banks were targeted by in 53% of the November attacks, RSA says. The other top four hosting nations were South Korea, at 10%; Germany, 6%; France, 5%; and Australia and the United Kingdom at 4% each. Top nations after the United States targeted by phishers include the United Kingdom at 15% of attacks; Italy, 8%; Spain, 6%; and Canada, 4%. RSA is based in Bedford, Ma., and is a unit of Hopkinton, Ma.-based EMC Corp.
