U.S. takes title as top spam-relaying nation Q2

Experts at SophosLabs scanned all spam messages received in the company's global network of spam traps, revealing that for the first time in more than two years, the U.S. has failed to make inroads into its spam-relaying problem. The U.S. remains stuck at the top of the chart and is the source of 23.2% of the world's spam. Its closest rivals are China and South Korea, although both of these nations have managed to reduce their statistics since Q1 2006.

The vast majority of this spam is relayed by "zombies," also known as botnet computers, hijacked by Trojan horses, worms and viruses under the control of hackers.

The top 12 spam-relaying countries between April and June 2006 are as follows:
U.S. -- 23.2%
China (including Hong Kong) -- 20%
South Korea -- 7.5%
France -- 5.2%
Spain -- 4.8%
Poland -- 3.6%
Brazil -- 3.1%
Italy -- 3%
Germany -- 2.5%
U.K. -- 1.8%
Taiwan -- 1.7%
Japan -- 1.6%
Others -- 22%<...

» ComputerWorld - Computing South Africa - 03-08-2006