Even hackers need a day off! A recent email-based attacks for 2012 statistics shows that hackers preferred for attacks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, while Saturdays and Sundays are used for resting.

The research led by network security firm FireEye, a leader in stopping targeted cyber-attacks, analyzed messages with malware over the years and found that activity levels have dropped dramatically, especially on weekends.

Using information collected on the first quarter of 2012, the “pirates of computers” prefer to act in the middle of the week, since the level of incidents on Tuesdays and Wednesdays are four times larger than the other days. Meanwhile, attacks carried out on Saturdays and Sundays account for only a third of the average of other days of the year.

“It seems these attackers don’t like to work on weekends, either. Monday’s attack level is at average, while the midweek spike tapers off to below average levels by Friday,” FireEye said in the blog post.

FireEye analyzed the frequency of advanced persistent threat attacks (APTs) and found that of all the unique APT attacks seen during this period, March saw highest number of attacks with a percentage of 60 percent, compared to 19 percent in April, 17 percent in January and 14 percent in February.

APT based attack caught highest peak around mid-March, the week before traditional spring break season. Wednesdays and Thursdays like Feb. 1, Feb. 9, March 7, and April 12, spiked 473 percent, 444 percent, 385 percent and 387 percent increases in attacks, respectively.

Online Security Threats are on Rise

Online security threats are on rise, as per former Executive Assistant Director of the FBI for cyber security, Shawn Henry. The 2011 Norton Cybercrime Report estimated a total loss of $400 billion a year in the US alone due to remote access attacks. Intrusions into corporate networks, personal computers, and government systems are occurring every single day by the thousands, he said.

In what seems to be the most recent cyber-attack, hactivist collective Anonymous have leaked 1.7 GB of data from a U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the agency responsible for collecting, collating, and publishing information on crime statistics gathered from agencies within the U.S. justice system.

In another exploit, an international cyber-criminal organization access online commercial banking accounts and distribute malicious software by using Automated Clearing House (ACH) wire transfer system, stealing nearly $70 million.