Brit Computer Users Third-Most Targeted by Cyber Criminals, Says Report

Britain gets 20 Billion spam e-mails daily - representing 300 spam per user - with only China and the US getting more. The statistics were disclosed by IronPort, an anti-virus firm, which emphasized that majority of the email traffic today is spam.

Britain epitomizes not only a huge marketplace but also an extremely rich market. This makes it attractive to hackers, stated IronPort's representative Paul Doran, as reported on December 3, 2007 by Telegraph.co.uk.

The firm maintains that now an impressive 98% of the messages are spam, a number every e-mail security company seems to differing on. And by 2008, social networking Websites will turn into major goldmine of private data for British spam groups.

The research stated that spam, malware and virus strikes are expensive. The normal British user daily spends around 5-10 minutes managing spam. Approximately 60 Million users have had their personal information revealed during the last 13 months, and roughly expended $20 Billion towards clean-up expenses and productivity loss globally. Moreover, 48% of the companies don't have any rule designed for informing users whenever their personal data is threatened.

As per the study, the general spam and malware trends can be defined by a more concerted, surreptitious and hi-tech strikes. For Britain, 2007 indicated a culmination for risks in the country. Even as malware attack appeared to have attained a state of stability, fresh attack methods have developed, several so complicated - all expert jobs - that could just have been prepared through advanced R&D, alleged IronPort's European Product Manager, Jason Steer, according to news published on December 3, 2007 by Sourcewire.

Nearly two-third of British homes have Web access, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Furthermore, statistics given by the online shopping comparison Website, uSwitch, indicate that customers will expend £40.2 Billion online in 2007, as opposed to £30.8 Billion in 2006. But this elevated online trading is leaving customers practically open to hackers, informs the report, which adds that volume of day-to-day spam messages have increased twofold during 2006.

Another Web security company, Checkpoint Systems, has forecasted that Christmas will be a blessing for the hackers, with £431 Million worth stock waiting to be robbed in December 2007.

Related article: Brute Force Attacks Target Yahoo! Mail Accounts

» SPAMfighter News - 12/13/2007