The spread of malicious software aimed at e-banking applications and phishing attacks against Swiss internet providers are a "huge problem", federal IT experts say.

Even the use of USB sticks can be used for possible attacks, warns a study by the Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (Melani), part of the Federal IT Strategy Unit.

The report says that in the second half of 2008, the attacks against e-banking applications were aimed at acquiring login information.

It notes that this happened, for example, via spam waves that took advantage of the carelessness of users and spread e-banking Trojans in a targeted way.

Trojans are programmes disguised as useful applications but secretly carry out harmful actions.

The report also says that various phishing attempts against Swiss internet providers were observed. By sending an email with a bogus sender or link, the victim is lured to a bogus website where the victim's login data are obtained.

It adds that in dealing with hard disks, USB sticks and memory cards, people should delete data no longer required, arguing that secure deletion is important for protecting privacy.

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