Phishing attacks were down 10 percent from April to June 2010 compared to the second quarter of 2009, according to Internet Identity.

However, the Tacoma-based company's Second Quarter Phishing Trends Report shows that despite this drop, phishing attacks targeting e-commerce, gaming, Web services and social networking sites significantly increased.

Highlights of the report include:

• Phishing attacks by Avalanche, one of the most prolific cyber criminal gangs (responsible for two-thirds of the world's phishing attacks in the second half of 2009), have essentially disappeared. However, it has turned to distributing Zeus malware which is capable of hijacking computers, then stealing banking, social networking and e-mail account logins, and making that information available as part of a criminal network.

• Non-Avalanche phishing attacks increased 12 percent year-over-year, filling much of the void left by the disappearance of Avalanche phish.

• Traditional bank phishing continues to comprise about 50 percent of overall phishing. However, that is down from almost 60 percent in Q2 2009.

IID has been providing technology and services that secure the Internet presence for an organization and its extended enterprise since 1996.