South Korea - The Fourth Largest Creator of Spam Mails

As per a report released by security firm Symantec Corp. on October 16, 2008, South Korea was the 4th largest spam creator in the world during September 2008.

The report said that 4% of total spam mail in the world during September 2008 originated in South Korea. South Korea picked up its position by six places as compared to August 2008. But the firm did not divulge the accurate number of spam mails produced by the country.

The report also revealed that the US stands at first position in terms of spam generating regions with 29% of the total spam. Turkey and Russia comes next with 8% and 7% of overall spam mails respectively.

Further, the report disclosed that the content of spam mails encompasses mostly internet and computer related information (24%), followed by bank loans and real estate investment data with 20% of the total spam messages.

Also, security experts claimed that most of the spam mails come from hacked systems instead of the Korean hackers. The well-developed consumer broadband network of Korea makes it a lucrative target for the spammers who use the latest breed of spam friendly mass mailing worms.

Symantec's security researchers also added that South Korea witnessed the highest growth rate in zombie systems, increasing at 4,236% during September 2008 as compared to August 2008. The security experts commented that zombie systems are the Internet attached systems that have been compromised to use as decoy routers for spam mail circulation.

Meanwhile, in order to reduce the number of spam mails in the country, South Korean government has decided to introduce more strict and rigid anti spam laws. spammers found guilty will pay a fine of almost 30 Million won (£13,650), three times higher than the present.

Further, the government will collaborate with other countries in initiating anti spam laws, and will also share the lists of blacklist spammers. Fortunately, it will lay the foundation of technical expertise that will surpass the hackers. Also, the government of South Korea wants to restrict uninvited commercial mails between 9 PM and 9 AM.

Related article: South Korea Becomes Infamous For Being World’s Fifth Spamme

» SPAMfighter News - 10/21/2008