A new batch of reports on malicious code are out, and the news just keeps getting worse. Hackers continue to come up with new and better schemes for getting past our defenses. Internet security service provider MessageLabs uncovered some interesting trends in its report on online threats for March. Not only did the number of targeted attacks go up, but the attacks are becoming more narrowly targeted. By a wide margin, the most common of the 249 low-volume, high-value attacks identified by the company consisted of a single e-mail sent to one person. Nearly one quarter of the individuals targeted were in government, and that sector was the most commonly targeted by these attacks, by a two-to-one margin. The electronics, aviation, retail, communications and finance sectors rounded out the top tier of targets. The bad guys know which organizations have data worth stealing and are picking them out one by one, said MessageLabs senior anti-virus technologist Alex Shipp.