Symantec – Spam Relay from LAM Region Increased Two Fold in 2008

Symantec through its Internet Security Threat Report released in April 2009 highlights that there was a twofold increase (from 2% to 4%) in the worldwide spam originated from the Latin American region during 2008.

Country wise, the report states that the highest number of spam in the region originated from Brazil, accounting for 29%. The security company mentions two reasons why Brazil is the top spam producing country in Latin America. First, it has a population with the highest percentage of people subscribing to the broadband. And secondly, it has the highest percentage of compromised zombies pushing out spam.

Moreover, Argentina occupied the second position in the LAM region, with a 15% share during 2008, while Colombo occupied the third spot at 12%. Symantec further states that these two countries are prominent in the Latin American region possibly because of their elevated ranking with respect to spam zombies.

Besides, countries on the 4th and 5th positions were Chile and Peru respectively with a combined share of 9% of LAM's total spam. Mexico ranked No.6 contributing 6% of the regional spam, while Bolivia and Dominica ranked No. 7 and 8 respectively with a combined contribution of 3% of the region's total spam, reports Symantec.

Other LAM countries Venezuela and Dominican Republic were placed at the 9th and 10th positions respectively on the 'Top 10' list of spam countries, as they accounted for 2% each of the regional total.

Commenting on its report's results, Symantec said the Internet brings forth, increasing problems in spotting the spam sender's location. This happens as spammers invariably distract recipients' minds from the formers true location, implying that the location from where the spam arises is not really the country from where the spammers operate. This is the reason cited for some countries that have never heard of as the global transmitters of spam such as Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Symantec's security researchers also stated that spam on a global scale marked high as 2008 came to an end. This is primarily due to the fact that as worldwide security technology progressed, spammers too steered ahead with the same speed.

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» SPAMfighter News - 5/4/2009