The volume of phishing attacks dropped in 2010 to less than a quarter of what was seen in the previous two years, according to IBM's annual research report on threats and risks. There was still plenty of spam, however.
IBM researchers aren't sure why phishing has waned, though the apprehension of a major Romanian phishing gang last May likely helped, says Tom Cross, a researcher at IBM. Cross says it may be that phishing isn't paying enough and that attackers are shifting their attention to something "more lucrative, such as ATM skimming".
LinkedIn remains the most impersonated brand in phishing attacks