Massive Spam Rates in 2006

The Annual Security Review, a publication of IE Internet, January 4, 2007 discussed that spam increased massively in the year 2006. The average spam rate in this year was 52%, about one and a half times more than the figure of 2005.

The spam volume entering Ireland traffic in 2006 was higher by 30% over 2005 and it is expected to further increase in 2007, as per the review.

According to Ken O'Driscoll, chief technical officer with IE Internet, spamming activity is set to grow dramatically in 2007. It will be necessary to manage and constantly review business e-mails in order to cope with the impending surge of spam. As the threat from newer spamming techniques intensifies the problem of spam would no longer be just removing those spam mails, warns O'Driscoll.

Spam figures for December 2006 tend to be irregular, as most businesses do not operate during Christmas vacation. This implies less legitimate e-mails are sent out and more spam mails take up a higher number of the total. Despite this fact, last December's spam figures showed a worrying increase of 38.93%.

December also saw a greater level of 'pump-and-dump' spam, where the e-mail lures recipients to buy cheap stocks with the word of earning good money. This inflates the demand and raises the stock value. In the process the spammer who has already purchased the less expensive shares starts to sell them and make substantial profits. The report also says that image-based spams were far greater than traditional text messages because they can infiltrate anti-spam software with ease. Image spam also drains heavily on bandwidth than the average text e-mails, notes the report.

Like always U.S. was the main spam originating country. However, it comprised a smaller proportion of the whole at 31.45%. China and South Korea followed with 27.5% and 18.31% respectively.

E-mail is considered a fundamental means of communication and it's the primary use of Internet that most organizations make, according to Fergal O'Byme, CEO of the Irish Internet Association. But despite that its drawbacks are getting more complex, added O'Byme.

Related article: McAfee Alerts Windows about Accessibility Hole in Vista

» SPAMfighter News - 1/10/2007