Trend Micro spots trouble ahead for all browsers

Trend Micro's latest monthly threat roundup has illuminated some interesting trends in cyber crime - notably that criminals are now looking to exploit the popularity of previously less well known browsers.

The security vendor revealed in its May roundup that Apple's Safari browser fell prey to a vulnerability that allowed cybercriminals to execute arbitrary code if users visited a malicious site. Opera was found to have a similar vulnerability.

These browsers, along with Google's Chrome and others, are likely to be targeted in increasingly large numbers as the traditional dominance of Internet Explorer, and to an extent Firefox, crumbles in the aftermath of the EU's browser ballot decision.

Trend Micro also showed a predictable increase in FIFA World Cup 2010 related spam, while PayPal remained the number one phishing target in terms of site and email spoofing.

"These statistics really demonstrate that attacks are increasingly regional and targeted in nature", said Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro.

"The limited mitigation afforded by using a less widespread browser is increasingly sidelined by criminals all too aware that the browser market has changed for good."