“We knew Avalanche would resurface and it is apparent that they have made a conscious decision to provide their massive botnet as an infrastructure for hire. The most prevalent use of their network is sites that attempt to get victims to install malware on their computers,” said Rod Rasmussen, IID president and CTO.

Once malware is on a victim's computer, the perpetrator can monitor or control both personal and business computer activity — enabling them to steal data, send spam, and commit fraud.

Criminals lure people in by creating appealing websites, desirable downloads and compelling stories, then trap unsuspecting victims, often through “drive-by” websites where malware automatically installs, Rasmussen said.

Money transfer and e-commerce phishing showed the largest areas of decline while phishing attacks impersonating national banks stayed strong, IID said, citing “significant security steps taken by Facebook, Google, Microsoft and others.”

“Cybercriminals are always trying to adapt to the latest security methods and threat awareness, and as an industry we must stay one step ahead of these increasingly sophisticated cyber gangs,” said Rasmussen, whose reports are drawn from his company's experts as well as organizations such as ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and APWG (Anti-Phishing Working Group).