US Leads Spam Relaying Countries

Computers in the US relayed 21.6 percent of the global spam between August-September. China, in second spot, represented 13.4 percent. France, Spain and South Korea followed in the next five positions. China's portion was almost 7 percent below the preceding quarter, whereas the US's share fell by 1.6 percent.

Analysts at Sophos attribute the American spam spate to Stratio worm, an invasive type of malware that changes harmless computers into partners of a spam botnet. "Cyber-terrorists are employing the malware to deceive end users into executing it and exposing the network to weaknesses," stated the senior security analyst at Sophos, Ron O'Brien.

If spam sources are classified according to continents and not nations, then Asia emerges first, with 34.1 percent. Europe and North America trail behind with 31.9 and 24.2 percent, correspondingly. The grading for Q3 were similar to the preceding three-months, averred Sophos. While Asia's portion fell, Europe's rose and North America's remained as such.

Third quarter review discloses that spammers are installing newfangled ploys to dupe consumers and anti-spam programs.

Presently, emails bearing integrated graphics comprise almost 40% of the total spam, and keeps on mounting --the great bulk supplying pump-and-dump stock schemes. The application of pictures, still and moving, offers spammers prospect of getting past spam filters as pictures can effectively steer beyond anti-spam screens that can just scrutinize text. They layer pictures in a specific email, hence producing "noise" that helps in bypassing discovery.

Email collecting is also aiming the gullible. A widespread spam menace requests receivers to send an email for a phony scientific research, and the other fraud leads individuals to a site where they're exhorted to write their emails, which are then gleaned for different fraudulent schemes.

"Since embedded anti-malware and anti-spam defense carry on presenting broader security, cyber-terrorists and spam dealers are developing more advanced methods of strikes. It is vital that one always remains armed against these possible dangers with the most recent and creative security measures," appended O'Brien.

Related article: US Passes Baton to Asia in Spam Relay

» SPAMfighter News - 11/13/2006