Hong Kong Designated as Spam Center of the World

According to a warning by security analysts, Hong Kong is infested with armies of "zombie" PCs that strike its netizens with junk e-mails or spam, resulting in damages and costing huge amounts of dollars every year.

It seems similar to an attack plan from a B-movie. However, it's the disturbing situation that PC operators are encountering in a city that has earned the undesirable label of global spam center.

The problem manifests itself with a new wicked twist and alleged zombie computers are on the rise. PCs, which infected with viruses, are dispatching loads of unsolicited e-mails or spam without their users' consent.

There are some 4,000 compromised zombie PCs running vibrant in Hong Kong as their offensive masters fire off numerous messages from those PCs with offers of goods as varied as pornography to jewelry.

Symantec, an online security firm, states that as per its May 2009 MessageLabs Intelligence Report, Hong Kong was recipient of the highest number of spam in relation to any country or region of the world.

Meanwhile, the city's spam problem is going from bad to worse, as estimated statistics for August 2009 revealed a high 93.4% rate of spam in Hong Kong.

Dan Bleaken, an analyst of Internet data, states that no other place has the condition like Hong Kong where the city's inherent character, history and location all make it unique and different from any region on the globe, as reported by ASIAONE NEWS on September 10, 2009.

The analyst believes that being a commercial as well as financial center, Hong Kong is a profitable attack point for spammers. He says that certain estimates show that Hong Kong lost $770 Million (HK$ 5.5 Billion) during 2001 because of spam-related activities.

According to the specialist, the reason why Hong Kong has such enormous spamming activities is that the region is devoid of any regulation for curbing spam and spammers.

It was observed that an individual was presenting an accumulated 14 Million e-mail addresses of which 2 Million were Hong Kong addresses, for merely HK$300. Moreover, the deal also offered a free program with which 100,000 junk e-mails could be dispatched daily.

Related article: Hong Kong Again Emerged The Most Spammed Country

» SPAMfighter News - 10/1/2009